The Winter Servant
by Elphaba818
Summary: Jackson Overland was born a servant in the Arendelle castle, and he does a good job. The only problem? His uncontrollabe ice and snow powers. On the night of Queen Elsa's coronation, he accidentally sets off an eternal winter throughout the kingdom and runs away. But his little sister, the new queen, and some new royal friends are on a mission to bring him back home. RotBTFD story.
1. The Boy of Ice and Snow

**Hey everyone, it's me! Elphaba818! I'm back with an all new story, only this time, I'm writing for one of my favorite crossover fandoms: Rise of the Brave Tangled Frozen Dragons, or otherwise known as RotBTFD and has a slight Jelsa romance genre to it!  
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 **This fandom and crossover pairing of Jack Frost x Elsa has been dear to my heart for several years now, and I've always wanted to write a story that starred not only Jack Frost from _Rise of the Guardians_ and Queen Elsa from _Frozen,_ but also the other lead characters in the crossover fandom: Rapunzel from _Tangled,_ Merida from _Brave,_ and Hiccup from _How to Train Your Dragon._ All together, the five of them are the Big Five! However, out of all the above listed movies, my favorite one is without a doubt _Frozen._ I love the idea that an act of true love can conquer psychological fear and thaw a frozen heart! Then, sometime last year, I had the wild idea of changing the plot line of _Frozen_ so that Jack Frost is the one accidentally caused the unnatural winter in Arendelle, and that the other members of the Big Five along with Jack's little sister go on a quest to bring him back to the kingdom and correct the mistake. I started looking around here online to see if there were any other authors that had thought up a story idea like this, and to my utter joy, no one else had thought of this first, or at least not in the same way that I have, so kudos to me! :D**

 **This story is dedicated to every reader out there who values the following: Jelsa romance, the lifelong friendship between the members of the Big Five, and the love and importance of family. Nothing is more important in this world than family who love you. I know that better than anyone, and I hope that this story with a new twist on the story of _Frozen_ will reiterate to all you readers just what people are willing to do for their family.**

 **Also, I would like to note that I doubt that this story will be updated at the same pace as my previous story, A Hyuuga's Honor. I've been working on this first chapter all throughout my college's winter break, and the second semester starts back up again in about two weeks. I'll be taking a number of classes this semester, and may not have a lot of time to write. I'll of course write whenever I have free time, but I don't think that this story will be updated on a weekly basis that ninety percent of A Hyuuga's Honor was. I'll update whenever I can, but no promises as to when those updates will be. I do hope that you all understand. I can't afford to flunk anymore of my college classes.**

 **I also want to give a special shout out to my wonderful online friend and beta reader Silken Danser, who has already critiqued this chapter! Thank you so much for checking over all my grammar mistakes! Hope you stick with me for the rest of the story! And I do hope you love it! ;)**

 **Please note: I do not own the movies _Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled,_ or _How to Train Your Dragon._ _Frozen, Brave,_ and _Tangled_ belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and _Rise of the Guardians_ and _How To Train Your Dragon_ both belong to Dreamworks Animation. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please, be sure to review the chapter when you're done reading! Reviews keep me motivated! More reviews = More chapters! :D**

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 **Chapter One: The Boy of Ice and Snow**

Ice and snow.

These two chilly, watery entities of mother earth are two of the most beautiful, but still deadly natural creations that the planet can produce. They are born of cold and winter air with mountain rain combined. This cold, freezing force of nature is both foul and fair, but when a bit of wintery magic happens to strike a still beating, loving heart, people will do anything to thaw the frost that attempts to freeze a good person to solid ice. Especially if that heart happens to belong to one of the most innocent, happy people that one could ever have the privilege of meeting in their lifetime.

This is especially true for people who have the pleasure of living in or visiting the lovely little kingdom of Arendelle, hidden away from the rest of the world in the great, vast mountain regions of snowy Norway.

You may think you know the true story as to why Arendelle is one of the most magical places to visit if you're ever in the mood for a touch of winter spectaculars: the legend of the wise Snow Queen, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, the first of her name. Born with the powers of ice and snow, a new monarch who initially ran away from her position in court on the night of her coronation out of fear of what she could do, was eventually returned to her throne by her headstrong, younger sister Anna, and went on to become one of the greatest rulers of Arendelle in the past century.

But the truth is, you are one hundred percent wrong.

The tale of how Elsa became known as the legendary Snow Queen is a tale that underwent serious flaws as the details of the story became lost over time. Details that ended up making Elsa the accidental creator of the never-ending winter in the middle of the summer season rather than the true person who accidentally caused the devastating winter. Because of how the details about the myth of the Snow Queen faded away from memory over time, the truth of how Elsa grew to become the Snow Queen was eventually forgotten in the history books.

Because in all honesty, Elsa was never born with her powers over the ice and snow. They were bestowed upon her quite by accident by the true hero of this story.

This is a story of what really happened in that small Norwegian kingdom many centuries ago.

This is a story of how a band of unlikely heroes went on a quest to try and stop the unnatural winter that spread across the land on the night of Queen Elsa's coronation.

This is a story of how the light and magic of the moon was able to overcome the darkness of fear that threatened to overpower the mind of an innocent young boy.

This is a story that goes to show just how wonderful and fun the winter season can truly be.

This is a story of how an act of true love was able to thaw a frozen heart.

This is a story of how a hero sacrificed himself to save the person he loved the most in this world.

This is a story of the boy that became lost and forgotten in the legend of the Snow Queen.

This is a story of the Snow Queen's ever faithful Winter Servant.

This is a story about _Jack Frost…_

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It was a calm, peaceful night in the kingdom of Arendelle.

Stars twinkled merrily in the nighttime summer sky, illuminated lustrously by the beautiful, iridescent rainbow rays of the Northern Lights. Each one of them glimmered brightly as they weaved back and forth in the air against the pitch-black background. In the winter months, there would almost always be a certain chill in the air around the Arendelle castle, despite the entirety of the royal palace being constantly warmed with roaring fires in every fireplace, and even the paupers that lived in the small village in front of the castle had more than enough firewood to stoke their small fireplaces to keep their homes warm and cozy.

Anyone who came to Arendelle, be it nobles coming for a diplomatic visit or simple commoners who needed to make a fresh start in a new kingdom, would always agree that the kingdom was beyond prosperous and lively for the common folk, but more importantly, the current king and queen of Arendelle, King Agnar and Queen Idun, were without a doubt two of the finest, kindest monarchs they had ever had the good fortune of meeting. King Agnar was a good-humored man who had been born into the royal Arendelle family line. He was a good and fair ruler, and on the off days when he had little work to do in his duties as the king of the realm, he could almost always be found with a select number of royal guards, embracing the commoners that lived in the village at the base of the castle and trying to be one of the people. His wife Idun, a former duchess of Arendelle before her marriage to Agnar, was also one for getting to know the people of the kingdom. She would often accompany her husband during his outings to the village, and while Agnar would often get to know the villagers by helping to organize the local sporting festivals and even occasionally partaking in them himself, Idun preferred to get to know the people of the village in a more relaxed setting. She would often be the one to plant the new sapling that symbolized the beginning of a fresh start for a new year on the first day of Spring every year at the annual Spring festival, and would every now and then drop in on the local bookstore in the village whenever new book shipments came in from other various kingdoms across the sea. Even though the Arendelle castle had its own, luxurious library, Queen Idun often preferred to come and select the new books for the library herself so as to still get to know the people in town.

Even when the king and queen became parents to the first child, the Crown Princess Elsa, and then to their second daughter, Princess Anna, they still flourished in the public eye of the people of Arendelle. Little Elsa and Anna were the pride and joy of the kingdom, adored by all who met them, be it noble or peasant, but more importantly, they were truly the apples of their parents' eyes. King Agnar was known to spoil his two little girls rotten with delicious pastries and chocolates whenever he took them with him on his outings in the village, and Queen Idun would often take Elsa and Anna with her whenever she dropped in on the local bookstore, allowing the girls to browse the children's books for sale and even play with the village children as she chatted with other fellow mothers and swapped mothering tips.

It was during one of these many outings that the king and queen made while Idun was still pregnant with their daughter Elsa that the two of them came across another woman around Idun's age who was also pregnant, Kirsten Overland. Kirsten and her husband Tobias had only married a little less than a year ago, but just recently Tobias had lost his job. What that job was, Kirsten never said, but Agnar and Idun always got the impression that he was a tailor. Nonetheless, as months ticked past and Idun's and Kirsten's pregnancies progressed, the babies in their bellies grew bigger with each day, but Tobias remained out of work, and a genuine friendship sparked between the two women. Idun wanted desperately to help Kirsten, considering her husband was still out work and the young couple had a baby on the way, and Idun couldn't help but empathize with her friend considering that she too was about to become a new mother herself in a few short months. She talked it over with her husband, and then went on to offer Kirsten and Tobias room and board in the castle, working as a lady-in-waiting and a butler. Kirsten was ecstatic over the job offer, as was Tobias. The two moved into the palace when both mothers-to-be were around seven months pregnant, and two short months later, the babies were born. The Crown Princess Elsa was born on December twenty-first, the Winter Solstice, while Kirsten and Tobias's child, their little boy, was born a little less than a week later. The strange thing was, on the night when Kirsten and Tobias's son was born, the full moon from the said rare lunar event that took place on the night of Princess Elsa's birth reappeared in the night sky, baffling everyone in all the kingdom. While the phenomenon was undoubtedly strange, most of the townsfolk and the servants in the castle dismissed the appearance of the silver moon, and the event eventually faded from their minds.

But for King Agnar, Queen Idun, Kirsten, and Tobias, the silver moon that had appeared in the sky that fateful night had been a telltale sign. A sign that, looking back on the night when the young Overland boy had been born, should have been a clue for all the strange things that would eventually surround the boy as he grew older.

On this night, a little over eight years later, the said boy was tiptoeing through the many hallways of the Arendelle castle in his light blue pajamas, his two dark brown eyes containing a trace of mischief in their twinkle, but at the same time were wide awake and alert for any sign of perhaps a palace guard patrolling the halls or a fellow servant like his parents performing any late-night servant duties. He had slippers that he was supposed to wear, but the boy personally hated all kinds of footwear, and had left them back by his bed in the servant's quarters so he could instead wander around in the castle barefoot, just as he preferred to do. His dark brown hair was usually messy and untamable, but just now, after having feigned being asleep for hours long enough for his mother and father to fall asleep so that he could sneak out of their designated quarters, his bedhead was even messier than it usually was, sticking up in every direction imaginable in spiky brown locks. It was wrong of him to be sneaking around the palace right now in the dead of night when he wasn't supposed to be awake, the boy knew, but just knowing that he wasn't supposed to be wandering around the palace only added to the thrill of the adventure.

The boy had spent many nights in his short eight years of life exploring every nook and cranny in the castle whenever he had the opportunity. He loved exploring, but more importantly, he loved to have fun, and nothing was more fun than sneaking around behind his parents' backs to play all through the night in the Arendelle royal palace, pretending that he himself was the actual king instead and could fight and defeat any villain, human or monster, that dared to threaten the castle.

Yep, nothing on earth could beat playing and running around the castle corridors in the dead of night.

Except playing and having fun with someone else too, perhaps.

You see, the little boy was not actually alone right now as he scurried through the winding staircases and mazelike hallways of the palace. In his arms, he carried a small bundle of swaddled up white blankets, and from something hidden away deep inside them, a soft, friendly mewing could be heard.

The little boy was carrying a baby in his arms as he sneaked about his home in the palace.

His two-month-old baby sister, to be exact.

Ever since his sister had been born, the little boy had been all but a doting big brother to her. His sister might take up all their mother's attention and his father might get short with him more often now telling him not to cause too much of a ruckus in their living space and wake up the baby or attract the aggravated attention of everyone else that lived in the servants' quarters, but the boy didn't care one bit. He completely adored his little sister. She might just be a little baby that only knew how to sleep and cry for attention whenever she was hungry or wanted her diaper changed, but that didn't stop her big brother from already loving her. She was an object of great fascination to the boy. How could a human ever be so small? He remembered that before she was born and he officially met her, his mother said that his little sister lived in her tummy, as did he before he was born. That made absolutely no sense to the Overland boy. How did his sister end up in their mother's tummy? And how did he end up in her tummy at some point, too? Did their mother eat them at some point? Were babies part of all human bodies that eventually happened to everyone? Would he have a baby in his tummy too at some point? His father would often roll his eyes at his questions, but his mother would laugh. They would tell him to put his questions aside and focus instead on his new sister. The change in topic was very easy, as it was easy for the boy to become fascinated all over again with how cute and tiny his sister was.

His sister was, without a doubt, one of the best people in the little boy's life. She was going to be a great playmate for him as soon as she could walk and talk, he just knew it!

That's not to say that he couldn't include her in his adventures and games now, though. Indeed, that was the whole reason why he brought her with him tonight. He wanted desperately to play and have fun with his two very best friends in the palace tonight with his 'special' trick, but he didn't want to keep his sister away from the fun. No, it was all but natural for the boy to sneak over to her little crib in the corner of their family living space in the servants' quarters, pluck her straight up and tickle her silly for a moment just to see her little face smile at him, and then carry her away in his arms right out the door before hurrying along down the halls to find the room where his two fellow cohorts in crime slept.

A small whine that was louder than the previous sounds from the baby swaddled in his arms made the boy pause in the middle of his walk down the dark hallways, and he instead ducked behind a particularly tall suit of armor to stay hidden from sight in case anyone else in the castle happened to be awake and wandering around before focusing all of his attention on the squirming infant in his arms.

The boy smiled when he caught sight of her little face. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you wake up?" he excitedly whispered, his great big smile evident in his voice as he spoke.

More mewing and whimpering from the baby in the blankets answered him.

The boy's smile only grew. "Yeah, you look awake to me… You're probably wondering what we're doing right now, aren't you Emmy?"

His little sister, Emma Overland, still squirmed a bit in his arms, but her eyes definitely focused in on her big brother's face, and it almost seemed she stared up at him inquisitively as though she was indeed silently asking her big brother what on earth could have possibly possessed him to take her out of her warm bed in her baby crib in the middle of the night to go on this seemingly pointless walk in the dark through the various halls of the castle.

The boy chuckled a bit when he saw her curious expression. "Yeah, you definitely look like you're wondering… What if I were to tell you that you and I are going on an adventure, Em? That we're going to laugh and play and have lots and lots of fun? Does that answer your question?"

Emma's big brown eyes only blinked at him in reply, as though to tell her big brother that no, that did not answer her question as to why they were running around like they were right now in the middle of the night.

The boy only laughed some more. "Well, Emmy, you and me are going on our very first adventure together! We gotta pick up my friends first, but after that, we're going to have our very first nighttime playtime! Just wait and see! You, me, and the princesses are going to have a blast! A little… how should I put it… _icy_ blast! Does that sound fun now?"

This time, Emma's tiny mouth broke out into a big, toothless smile. She giggled and cooed as she waved her little fists straight up towards her big brother's face, looking very excited at the prospect of going to play with her big brother and the royal princesses in the middle of the night, but also seemingly wondering what he meant when he said 'icy' blast.

The little boy grinned in return. "Glad to see you're on board now, Emmy! Now let's go! The sooner we go and get Elsa and Anna, the sooner we can go and play! Fun waits for no one!"

And with that, the Overland boy snuggled his still giggling baby sister close to his chest, and set off again back down the hall, still trying to be as quiet as possible, but it was all but impossible to miss the sound of his energetic footfalls as he half ran, half walked as fast as he could down the hall, searching for the door that led to the shared bedroom of his only two friends in the castle, the Crown Princess Elsa and Princess Anna.

It took the little boy a bit of time to find the correct door, but pretty soon, he was standing directly in front of the gigantic door that led to the bedroom of both Princess Elsa and Princess Anna. The boy smirked mischievously, and then adjusted his grip on his little sister so that he could hold her in only one hand, and then turned the round, golden doorknob before slipping quietly inside.

The shared bedroom of the two little princesses was a very spacious room, composed of bright pink wallpaper covered with a very decorative diamond-shaped repeating pattern with a white border running along the entire perimeter of the room, and was furnished with very regal and highly expensive dark wood furniture. There were two toy chests and little dollhouses, one beside each of the two beds that were placed directly across from one another in the great room, and both beds were surrounded by recently played with toys and dolls discarded on the hardwood floor. The only window in the room, a great triangular window that gave a perfect view of the village outside and the far off mountains in the distance, protruded out from the slanting roof of the castle as a gable, and stretched all the way until it reached the pink padded window seat bench which ran all the way along the width of the window's base. To the right of the window, tucked away in a corner of the room was a beautiful fireplace made entirely out of white brick with a fireguard around its edge, and only a little way off from it was one of the two enormous double-sized beds. It possessed two large, thick red curtains hanging from the top, and bright pink sheets with fluffy white pillows piled up at the head. The little girl who was supposed to be fast asleep in the grand bed at the moment though, the five-year-old Princess Anna, was currently missing from its fluffy pink depths. That meant nothing to the little intruder in the room, however. He knew exactly where little Anna was if she was not sleeping in her own bed. His eyes darted away from the bright pink bed to look at the opposite end of the room, where the second bed was. Elsa's bed. Just like Anna's bed, Elsa's bed was a large double-sized bed with thick red curtains hanging on either side, creating a canopy around the bed, but unlike the pink bedspread on Anna's bed, Elsa's blankets and sheets were all a light shade of blue, and nestled deep in their folds was none other than Elsa herself, fast asleep and ignorant of the fact that there was a tiny trespasser in the room. Curled up at her side was none other than Anna, also fast asleep as she snuggled up to her big sister. Yes, the two sisters were thick as thieves, and nothing on earth could ever possibly come between them to drive them apart.

The Overland boys' playful smirk grew even larger as he slipped silently inside the room, shutting the door behind him carefully with his foot before padding further in on the large pink rectangular carpet in the middle of the room, adorned with a beautiful symmetrical rose pattern in the very center. The fact that Anna had seemingly decided to sleep with Elsa in her bed tonight worked out rather nicely in regards to what he intended to do in order to wake up the princesses so as to invite them to come and play with him and Emma. He quickly moved to deposit his sister on Anna's bed before tiptoeing towards the other bed where Anna and Elsa were still fast asleep. No need for her to get hurt when he did what he had planned.

As soon as he was standing right at the edge of Elsa's bed,looming down over her and Anna's small bodies, he chuckled a bit. This was going to be totally awesome! Oh, he couldn't wait to see their reactions!

And then, with little to no warning at all or even a soft whisper beforehand to try and wake either of the little princesses up to alert them that he was here, the boy whooped loudly before literally flinging himself down hard on top of the blue comforter of the bed and then hopped up and down wildly in a rather uncouth manner.

"Elsa! Anna! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Both girls awoke with a start, Anna in particular squealing a bit in fear from the rather abrupt, rude wake up call. Elsa looked about ready to start screaming for help out of alarm of the fact that a stranger was in her and her little sister's bedroom, but then she heard the rather obnoxious laughter erupting from the small shadowed figure hovering over hers and Anna's bodies, and she instantly relaxed.

"Oh, wow! I knew that would be great, but I didn't expect you to almost scream, Anna! And Elsa, you look like the Boogeyman came and gave you a nightmare!"

Anna giggled and clapped her tiny hands happily while Elsa folded her arms and pretended to huff in annoyance. The two royal princesses resembled their parents, King Agnar and Queen Idun, very much. They were both fair skinned with turquoise blue eyes and had light dustings of freckles on their small faces, but while Anna had rosy red cheeks and strawberry-blonde hair like her father's that was always tied back into two cute, bouncy pigtails, Elsa was the spitting image of their mother, the queen. Her cheeks were always a pretty shade of soft pink on her petite face, and her hair was a rich shade of chestnut brown exactly like her mother's, and it was a very rare event to see it arranged in anything other than its usual loose French braid plait that was most often swept over her left shoulder.

The brunette princess scowled at him as she blinked away the drowsiness still clinging to her eyelids. "What do you expect when you jump on top of us while we were fast asleep?! And I was having such a lovely dream, too!"

"Oh? I take it the Sandman visited you tonight, then?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact! I dreamt that I was hosting a royal tea party with Anna and our mysterious lost cousin while you were acting the way a good servant in this castle should act during such an event: serving us our tea quietly, politely, and definitely not being seen or heard!"

"What? You wish I was invisible, Elsa? That hurts! I'm one of a kind, you know! I'm meant to be right in the spotlight!"

"Yeah, Elsa!" little Anna chimed in. "Don't talk that way to him! Jack came to play with us tonight! You should be just as happy as I am!"

The boy, his full name being Jackson Overland, laughed wholeheartedly at Anna's words as he continued jumping up and down from where he was standing over Elsa and Anna's bodies on the blue bedspread, and consequently causing both princesses to bounce haphazardly a bit from where they were resting on the fluffy mattress. Anna giggled and cheered even louder as she too began to bounce in rhythm to Jack's wild springing, but Elsa continued to huff as she struggled to find a way to be able to lay back down without flying all over the place thanks to Jack's and now also her own little sisters' playful nature.

Finally, Jack managed to calm down enough to stop bouncing all over the bed and sat down nicely, and as soon as Anna stopped bouncing as well, he spoke again. "Well, I didn't exactly come alone this time. I brought Emma with me!"

This caught the attention of both little girls, and they sat up alertly as their dark-haired servant friend hopped down off the bed, and then darted his way across the room to collect a small bundle of white blankets off Anna's pink bed, and then hurried back over to where they were, setting the small bundle down on the bedspread for a moment before climbing back up beside it. Jack picked it up again before scooching his way closer to the two girls, allowing them to get a closer look at the tiny, dark-haired baby girl hidden away inside the blanket's many folds.

"Aww! Hi, Emma! Do you remember me?! I'm your honorary big sister Anna!" Anna cooed, blowing kisses at the sweet little baby nestled in Jack's arms.

Even Elsa lost her scowl for a moment as she stared, enchanted, at the little baby Jack was holding. "Hello, Emma. You look very cute tonight, unlike your stupid big brother here."

Jack gasped in mock anger. "Hey! Don't go telling my little sister that!"

"Well, it is true, you know. You are stupid. I mean, what person in their right mind would risk sneaking around the castle in the middle of the night and getting caught by the guards, all the while bringing their infant little sister along for the ride, to come and see the royal princesses of all Arendelle?"

Jack grinned. "Me of course! Look outside! The sky's awake!"

Both Elsa and Anna turned their heads to spare a peek out their bedroom window. In addition to seeing the beautiful, round silver orb of the moon hovering high above them in the dark night sky, the iridescent rainbow lights of the aurora borealis were weaving about in their breathtaking nightly dance, creating a rather magical nighttime scene.

"Pretty!" Anna exclaimed.

Jack nodded eagerly as he adjusted his grip on Emma's blankets so that she wouldn't fall. "If the sky's awake, I'm awake! And when I'm awake, I wanna play and have fun!"

Anna was instantly on board. "Yeah! Come on, Elsa! Let's go play!"

But Elsa just shook her head before laying back down and snuggling herself back into the covers of her bed. "Go play by yourselves," she muttered. "It's the middle of the night. I don't wanna play…"

Anna pouted at her older sister's apparent grumpiness, but Jack's mischievous little smirk just continued to grow. With little to no warning at all, he thrusted Emma into Anna's arms and ignored the puzzled expression on Anna's face as he wiggled himself closer to Elsa in order to peel back one of her closed eyelids to make sure that the Crown Princess was paying attention to him.

"Oh, come on now, Elsa! Surely you wanna help me build a _snowman,_ right?" he grinned.

Normally, this would be a rather strange question to ask when it was technically the middle of summer and there was no snow to be found anywhere in the capitol city of Arendelle, but in the case of Jackson Overland, asking the two royal princesses if they wanted to help _him_ build a snowman wasn't a strange question at all. In fact, it was actually a pretty typical question to hear from the carefree and good-natured boy.

Anna gasped in delight at the prospect of what Jack was offering while Elsa's eyes slowly opened again as a small smile of her own spread across her face. What Jack was suggesting was something that was not only amazing and beyond fun, it was something that he had been expressly forbidden to do by both his parents and their own parents, the king and queen themselves, especially when the two of them or Emma was anywhere near him. But the fact that he had been forbidden to do this at all only added to the thrill and excitement for the three of them whenever they played, so now, the only chance for the two princesses and the little servant boy to play together whenever Jack used this highly-forbidden skill was in the middle of the night like this while everyone else was asleep. Only this time, Jack had brought his new sister along so she could join in on the fun.

The fact that Jack had brought Emma with him to play this time would only make tonight even more memorable and special.

But only if Elsa agreed to come play and have fun.

"Pleeeeeeeeease, Elsa? Please?" Anna pleaded, puffing out her lower lip a bit to emphasize her words. "We always have the most fun ever whenever we play with Jack!"

"Yeah, come on, Elsa!" Jack begged. "It's not the same without you!"

There was a momentary pause, but then Elsa fully sat up and swung her legs out of bed. "Well, I suppose if it's only for a little while…"

Jack whooped for joy as Anna cheered, and then they too jumped down from the bed, although Anna's jerky movements jostled little Emma a bit, and she whined in displeasure as she squirmed some more in her blankets. Anna struggled to keep a good grip on her.

"Hey, hey! Don't squirm like that, Emma! I'll drop you!" Anna cried.

Jack hurried over and took his wriggling baby sister from the little five-year-old's arms. "I got her, don't worry," he told Anna. Then his focus shifted down to Emma herself. "What's wrong, Emmy? Are you getting impatient? Do you want to go and play right now? Well, now that her oh-so-important royal highness, the future-queen of Arendelle has decided to grace us with her ever so regal and so mature and highly sophisticated presence—"

"I'd watch what you say if I were you, Jackson Overland. Remember, when I'm older, I can lawfully decree to have you banished from Arendelle, or even have you beheaded if you annoy me!"

"Elsa! You mustn't say awful things like that!"

"I am making a point, Anna. Jack never seems to understand the meaning of being polite and reserved and not making a huge commotion in whatever he does."

"—and has finished making a few smart speeches about what her first royal decrees will be in regards to what she's going to do to me, your wonderful big brother, when we're all older and she's queen, now we can all go and play! We're going to have so much fun, you won't be able to sleep a wink when we all sneak back to bed!"

Emma, as though she understood exactly what it was Jack was telling her, giggled and cooed at that prospect as her little hands reached out from the white cloth of her baby blankets to try and grab hold of one of Jack's much bigger fingers. Elsa and Anna both smiled as they watched Jack smile himself as he cradled his precious sister to his chest and let her be entertained with his finger as he waved it back and forth in front of her face for a short time. Jack might have been an only child for the past seven years, but he seemed to be falling into the role of a good big brother rather naturally. Elsa and Anna could tell that when Emma was a little older and was big enough to talk and play games with the three of them, Jack was going to spoil her rotten.

But then, without warning, he suddenly took off like a shot to the bedroom door and started sprinting as fast as he could out into the hall while still trying to stay as quiet as he possibly could, all the while trying to keep Emma balanced so that she wouldn't get freaked out by the sudden fast, jerky movements.

"Last one to the Great Hall is a rotten egg!" he half-whispered, half-shouted to Elsa and Anna over his shoulder as he raced silently down the palace corridor.

After getting over their initial surprise, both Elsa and Anna's faces morphed into matching scowls as they too dashed out of their bedroom to chase after their friend, who they could hear was snickering somewhat loudly to himself up ahead from catching the two of them off guard when they least suspected it.

"Hey! No fair, Jack!"

"Yeah! You cheated, Servant Boy!"

Jack spared a peek over his shoulder at the two fuming princesses, and playfully stuck out his tongue at them before continuing to zip on down the hall. It was Jack's genuine pleasure to find new ways to tease his two friends, in particular the Crown Princess Elsa. She was a constant source of fascination to Jack, how she was all but his polar opposite. The eldest daughter of a rich and powerful king and kind and wise queen, whereas he was the only son of two castle servants, a stern and harsh father, and a smart and loving mother. She was proper and polite to all she met, but instead he was wild and could make a teasing remark to anyone he came across.

But most importantly, while she was an entirely ordinary little girl, he was not.

Jackson Overland, was… _special._

Very special.

There were so many differences between the two of them that Jack had no idea why he found it so easy to be a clown whenever Elsa was around, but it came so naturally to the boy that he just rolled with it.

After all, even though Elsa got annoyed with him for always teasing her, she knew deep down that he only meant what he said in jest.

It wasn't as though he _liked-_ liked the future queen of the country.

They were friends.

Just friends.

But they would still be best friends forever.

Elsa and Anna finally managed to catch up to him when he slowed down enough to not trip over his own two feet and possibly injure Emma by slipping and falling at the top of the castle's grand staircase. The trio of friends still hurried as fast as they could to make it to the bottom and get to the Great Hall first, but they all did their best to try and hush their laughter and whispered words so that they wouldn't get caught when they had all come so far already. To be caught by either the guards, the late-night castle servants, or more importantly either of their two sets of parents would spoil their fun before it even began.

"Hurry up you slowpokes! Me and Emma aren't gonna be labeled as rotten eggs! One of you will!"

"What?! No way! Me and my big sister will _never_ be considered rotten eggs! C'mon, Elsa! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Faster!"

"Both of you, shush! We'll all get caught if you keep talking that loud!"

Sweet little Emma gurgled happily as the other three children laughed and giggled when they made it to the bottom of the grand staircase and continued zooming down the main floor of the palace in the direction of the Great Hall. Childhood was such a precious time in a person's life. It was the only period that a person could live without fear of thinking about repercussions to actions and being burdened with the enormous responsibilities that fall on people's shoulders when they grew up into adults.

Finally, the gigantic-sized doors to the Great Hall appeared before the children's eyes, and the princesses and the little servant boy all sprinted as fast as they could to be the first one to reach them and get inside.

"Give it up, your royal highnesses! Emma and I are gonna get there first!"

"Not a chance, Jack! I am the future queen of Arendelle! I will be the first one inside!"

"Forget it, Jack, Elsa! I'm totally gonna beat you both there!"

The three of them continued to run with all their might, but pretty soon, it was just Jack and Elsa who were neck and neck in the front as they dashed to the doors. Even with Jack having to slow down so that he didn't scare Emma who he was still cradling, it was a close race, and by the time the trio had finally reached the enormous, beautifully crafted dark-wooded doors trimmed with pure gold, all three of them were completely out of breath, but the outcome of the race was not well received by any of them.

"A tie?! Seriously?!" Anna cried out in disbelief.

"I can't believe I run at the same speed as Elsa! A _girl!_ If only I wasn't laden down with Emma…!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean exactly, Jackson Overland?! Are you suggesting that girls are automatically slower in this world than boys?!"

"No. I just meant that I can't believe that I'm as slow as you in particular. You act so dainty and delicate all the time, you have no muscles whatsoever!"

"Why you—!"

"Elsa! Jack! Stop! I still wanna build a snowman before the night is over, and I bet Emma does, too!"

Anna's words brought a hush over the two older dark-haired children. Anna might be younger, but she was right, of course. Jack and Elsa had been so caught up in the race, they had nearly forgotten why they'd been running here to begin with. Elsa smiled excitedly as Jack's face broke back out into a mischievous smirk, and then he turned and passed Emma's baby blankets over to the crown princess before reaching up to turn the doorknob of the door to the Great Hall and then pushed it open as wide as he possibly could.

"C'mon you guys! Hurry!" he urged with a haughty wink.

Elsa and Anna didn't need to be told twice. Pausing only momentarily to ensure that precious Emma was nestled securely in her arms, Elsa motioned for Anna to follow her as she ran inside the ballroom, and Anna eagerly ran in after her. The Great Hall was a very large, spacious room that doubled as both a ballroom for parties and the throne room. At the far back of the Great Hall were the king and queen's thrones themselves, both situated on an elevated platform with red carpeting and on the wall behind both royal thrones was a beautiful red curtain. Red curtains were everywhere in the room. They hung between the numerous pillars that lined the entire perimeter of the room, and there was even a small alcove behind some of the curtains for a small bandstand for when balls took place, and on the opposite side of the room from the bandstand there was a set of closed double doors that led out to a small balcony. A large window hung overhead to allow light to enter the grand room, projecting a six-pointed diamond-shaped design on the exact center of the floor, coincidentally where there was a diamond-like design made in the very center of the striped flooring.

Jack trailed inside after both girls, slamming the door shut behind them all with a good, firm kick to the wood, and then allowed little Anna to seize hold of one of his free hands, and literally drag him over to where Elsa and Emma were waiting for them on the diamond-shaped symbol in the exact center of the Great Hall.

"Okay, Jack!" Anna cheered. "Do the magic! Do the magic!"

"Yes, please! Show us what you can do!" Elsa pleaded, adjusting her grip on Emma a bit so that her little head was poking out a bit more from the blankets and she could fully see.

Tiny Emma had no idea what was going on exactly, but that didn't stop her from giggling and gurgling in pleasure as she listened to the happy voices. She might be only a little baby, but she wanted to join in on all the fun, too.

Jack grinned, and then he glanced down at his two bare hands before making them swirl a bit in a circular shape in front of him, but never allowing the two of them to touch each other. Within seconds, magical crystals appeared, hovering in between his hands as they morphed into the shape of a perfect white snowball.

It was a mystery to everyone as to how and why the boy could make it, but from the moment he was born, Jackson Overland had been gifted with the extraordinary powers of control over ice and snow.

It had baffled his two ordinary parents when hours after their first child was born, he had been laughing and giggling to himself in his small cradle… and snow was blanketed over their small infant son and frost was coating the edge of the wooden rim of the tiny sleeping space. It had been impossible for the Overland's to keep their son's powers a secret from the king and queen, as within days of being born and first meeting the new Princess Elsa, little Jack had apparently made ice coat his hands as the two babies interacted with each other. Despite Tobias's slight anger with his infant son for possibly endangering the princess even though he was just a baby and didn't know any better, and Kirsten's fear of what the two monarchs might do to her only child upon knowing what strange and mysterious powers he possessed, King Agnar and Queen Idun did absolutely nothing to Jack when they found out about his magic. It had shocked them, no doubt, but they saw absolutely nothing dangerous about little Jack, and they certainly weren't going to order an execution of a defenseless infant. Especially not the son of Kirsten, one of Queen Idun's dear friends and most trusted handmaidens.

All King Agnar and Queen Idun requested of the Overland's was to teach Jack to keep his powers under control and to not use them around Elsa, and then also around Anna when she was born, too. While they could tell that, as he grew older, the boy himself was not at all a bad person and although he was a little wild and a bit of a stinker he was still a good boy, his powers over ice and snow were dangerous themselves, and they didn't want Jack to hurt either himself or anyone else. Not to mention, if other people were to find out what Jack could do, it could cause either a mass panic from the common population, or people could try to take Jack to use him for their own selfish means. After all, King Agnar's younger sister, the Princess Arianna, had married King Frederic of Corona and was a queen herself, but when she grew ill during her pregnancy with her daughter she had to eat a soup made up of the magic of a golden flower that had the power to heal the sick and injured to endure the remainder of the pregnancy. When her daughter was born, the Coronan Princess, she had been born with beautiful golden hair like the golden petals of the magic flower even though her mother and father were both brunettes. It could be rightfully assumed that the new princess had somehow been effected by the magic of the flower her mother had eaten while she was still carrying her, but even though Arianna and Frederic loved their daughter no matter what, within a few days after the princess's birth, a strange old woman had broken into the castle in the middle of the night and kidnaped the baby. It had been eight years since that horrible event, and even though King Agnar and Queen Idun had even sent out a number of search parties throughout both Corona and Arendelle in search of their little niece, Corona's Lost Princess remained lost. No one knew exactly why the woman had taken the little baby, but people speculated that the mysterious woman probably thought that the princess had healing powers similar to that of the magic flower and that was why she had kidnaped the girl. Neither of the monarchs nor the Overland's wanted to see anything remotely like that event happen to little Jack.

No, the best course of action was to simply forbid Jack from using his powers at all, especially around Elsa, Anna, and now that he was a big brother, Emma too.

But kids never liked to listen to their parents, especially not Jack. His ice and snow made playtime twice as fun, and he loved to show them off to Elsa and Anna whenever they played together, and this time, he was going to include his little sister in all the excitement. Tonight was going to be great!

As Jack continued to make the snowball floating in the air between his palms grow bigger and bigger as more snow appear out of thin air and compacted around it, his three spectators marveled at the sight.

"Oh!"

"Beautiful!"

A cute giggle was followed by happy baby squeals.

Jack smiled as he looked away from the snowball he was busy making to instead look back up at the girls. "Ready to have some fun?" he asked.

Elsa and Anna both nodded excitedly while tiny Emma continued to squeal happily. All three of them were very eager to see whatever it was Jack intended to do next with his magical snow.

Jack's grin grew, and then he literally threw the snowball high up in the air, as though he wanted to strike the ceiling of the Great Hall with his creation. But his snowball didn't hit the ceiling of the room. Instead, when it was only inches away from hitting the overhead window, the snowball exploded in midair, and it morphed into thousands of tiny, beautiful white snowflakes that floated down from the ceiling and started to fall back down to the floor and swirled around all four of their heads.

The three girls gazed in wonder up towards the ceiling. Anna was dancing in joy while Elsa cradled Emma securely to her chest as she twirled in place, marveling at how Jack had been able to make it snow in the room.

"This is amazing!" Anna screamed with joy.

"It's wonderful, Jack!" Elsa agreed, still sounding completely wonderstruck.

Jack smiled as more laughs from Emma resounded from the bundle of blankets Elsa was carrying. It meant the world to him knowing that he could make the three of them so happy just from using his magic. "You guys think that's cool? You haven't seen anything yet! Watch this!"

He stomped one of his bare feet down hard on the tiled floor, and in less than a second, the entirety of the floor that made up the enormous, airy room was coated in a sheet of strong and slippery ice, perfect for sliding and ice skating.

Both Elsa and Anna gasped in wonder as they slid about a bit on the new coat of ice, but Jack was standing perfectly upright on the ice, not showing the slightest sign of his bare feet possibly losing his footing and slipping and falling. Despite being barefoot, Jack didn't feel at all cold standing on the ice like this. In fact, being barefoot on the ice felt very refreshing. It was strange that something like standing shoeless on ice would immediately cause any other normal human being to get frostbite, but not for Jackson Overland. No, being barefoot on ice felt no different than being barefoot on a regular floor. His powers made him completely immune to the cold in every possible way.

Elsa and Anna were so excited by the appearance of the ice, they couldn't stop themselves. They restrained themselves only for a moment so as to allow Jack to make a small, cozy snow pile with his powers for them to set Emma down in so she wouldn't get hurt. Then, being sure to deposit her safely inside, the girls quickly started skating about the floor in their slippers, laughing cheerfully as they held each other's hands to maintain their balance, but their skating technique was nothing compared to Jack. Even being barefoot he was still able to zip all the way around the room without breaking a sweat, all the while leaving a thick trail of ice and frost behind him as he skated.

Anna pouted as she leaned up against her big sister to keep from falling. "Slow down, Jack! Don't be a show off!"

Elsa nodded in agreement, even sticking out her chin to try and act all prim and proper. "Anna is right, Jack. Be fair to those of us who don't have great ice magic on our side."

Jack smirked. "You want me to be fair? Hmm…"

He tapped his chin repeatedly with his index finger several times as he mocked the action of thinking the matter over. Both princesses were rather miffed at his teasing, but before either of the girls could comment on it, a resolved look suddenly appeared on his face as he snapped his finger in realization.

"You're right, Elsa! You're absolutely right!"

Elsa blinked. She hadn't expected Jack to agree with her so easily. "I am?" she said, unable to mask her surprise from her voice.

"Yep! I should be fair! I should be fair to all of you! Emmy's being left out of the fun! I gotta include her!"

Anna blew a huff of hot air to blow her bangs out of her eyes while Elsa rolled her eyes. Trust Jack to completely miss the point she had been trying to make and twist it into a way to both tease them again and think of his new sister again first and foremost. Jack ignored their expressions as he raced back over to the snow pile where they had left Emma in, and promptly scooped her up in his arms as he cradled his precious sister close to his chest.

"What do you say, Em? Do you want some winter magic, too?"

Emma's happy giggles answered him, and that made Jack laugh himself as he bounced her about before creating a single snowflake in the palm of his hand, and letting it land directly on her little nose. Emma squealed, clearly enchanted, and Jack felt his heart grow at least three sizes as he watched her. Seeing his little sister gurgle and smile at him meant the world to the little eight-year-old boy. He lived to see Emma smile at him.

Being a big sister herself also to a sweet little sister, Elsa couldn't help but smile as she watched Jack rock Emma back and forth as he cooed at her. "You really love your new sister, don't you Jack?" she asked.

Jack beamed at her and Anna as he tore his eyes away from Emma's cute face. "'Course I do! She's perfect! She's gonna be a great playmate once she's bigger, and she'll be an even better little sister to me than Anna is to you, Elsa!"

Anna stamped her foot upon hearing that last bit. "Hey!" she growled furiously.

Jack only laughed at her scrunched up, angry face. "It's true though, Anna! I'll bet you anything that Emmy here will never try to run around the castle when she's your age one day trying to avoid bath time!"

"But bath time is boring! And I hate getting soap in my eyes! And I'll have you know that—"

She was cut off when a snowball was suddenly pelted right at her face, courtesy of Jack.

You would think that such a naughty deed would be rewarded by a screaming fit from the youngest princess, but something strange occurred when Jack threw the snowball at Anna. A barely noticeable blue sparkle shined on Anna's face as the snow fell away from where it struck her, and almost immediately, Anna's angry scowl abruptly changed into an excited, cheerful smile. She had most mysteriously forgotten about her previous anger and was once again ready to have lots and lots of fun.

"Oh, you asked for it, Jack! Prepare yourself!"

She gathered up a fistful of snow from the pile of snow, but as she attempted to mash it all together to make a snowball of her own, Elsa quickly grabbed hold of her shoulder.

"Don't throw a snowball at him, Anna! You could miss him and hit Emma by accident! She's a baby! She could get seriously hurt!"

Anna rolled her eyes at her older sister's warning, but nonetheless listened to what Elsa said and dropped the clump of snow she had gathered up. "No fair! If we can't have a snowball fight, what else can we do?!"

Both Jack and Elsa were silent for a moment as they contemplated what they _could_ do that was safe play with Emma in the room, but then Elsa's eyes brightened as the perfect idea came to her mind.

"Jack, Anna, do you guys wanna build a snowman?"

Both Jack and Anna's heads whipped around when they heard the question, and in surprisingly perfect synchronization, they both eagerly nodded.

"A snowman? That sounds awesome!"

"Snowman! Snowman! Snowman! I wanna build a snowman!"

Elsa giggled. "Okay then. Anna? Why don't you sneak on down to the kitchens and go get a few rocks for the eyes and a carrot for the nose. Jack and I will stay and start gathering up the snow to build the body."

"Don't go building the snowman without me! I wanna help!"

"Well, then don't take too long then, Anna. Take forever and I'll make the snowman with just a wave of my magic, without either yours or Elsa's help!"

"What?! Oh, you better not, Jackson! I'm going to be the one to add the perfect touch to that snowman!"

And with that, the strawberry blonde-haired princess skidded as fast as she could across the icy floor back to the two main doors of the Great Hall, and disappeared out into the hall.

She wasn't gone too long, and by the time she returned, carrying the carrot, several tiny rocks, and two large sticks that she had found on the ground right outside the back-entrance doors of the kitchens, she was surprised to see that Jack had made many more white piles of snow in her absence, and Elsa was making a snow angel in the snow while Jack blew soft flurries of snowflakes into Emma's hair while they both waited for her.

"I'm back!" she called out while she struggled to juggle all the items that were in her arms as she hurried over to her sister and their magical, dark-haired friend.

Jack grinned. "'Bout time, too. I was just about ready to start off on that prior threat."

"Oh, boo, Jack! I went as fast as I could! I even brought back sticks for arms!"

"Anna, Jack, don't fight. Let's just start building the snowman."

To Elsa's immense relief, neither Jack nor Anna debated with her, and after setting Emma down on the icy floor and allowing her to wiggle her way out of her blanket wrappings and crawl around happily on the ice to get an up-close look at what the others were doing, the three older children started to build the little snowman.

It wasn't a conventional tall, three perfectly round balls snowman that they built. That type of snowman was a snowman that was impossible for Jack, Elsa, and Anna to build, as they were only small children and were neither tall enough to build a tall snowman nor had the patience to roll up three perfectly round balls for the snowman's body. No, the snowman that they built was very short, no bigger than Elsa and Jack, and the three balls of snow that made up its body were of various different sizes. Instead of the biggest snowball being on the bottom with the second biggest being in the middle and the smallest being used as the head, the biggest, roundest snowball was used for the bottom like usual, but the smallest ball was used for the middle, and the head took up at least a third of the body and was of a strange, oval-like shape. The carrot Anna had brought for a nose was planted directly in the center of the oval-shaped head, with two of the small black rocks being used for eyes while the remaining three made up three black buttons. There weren't enough left over to be used for a mouth, so instead, Jack used his magic to carve out a snow-shaped mouth in the head with a large bucktooth sticking out. The two sticks stuck out from the second small snow clump of the body to be used as arms, but not before Jack had broken away three small twigs from one of the sticks and stuck them on top of the snowman's head so that they stuck straight up in the air, rather much like strands of hair.

Overall, the snowman was rather unconventional compared to how a traditional snowman would ordinarily look, but it was still very cute.

All it needed now was the perfect name.

"I hereby dub thee, the Great Frosty the Snowman! Guardian of everything fun and magical in all of Arendelle!" Jack proclaimed, spinning the snowman around so that it could be looking at Elsa and Anna, who were both sitting down on their parent's thrones as they watched Jack add the final touches onto their friendship-snowman.

"No, no, no!" Elsa proclaimed, doing her best to sit nicely and not move too much since Emma was on her lap and she didn't want to spook her. "Frosty for a name? That just won't do!"

"Why not, Elsa? Frosty the Snowman is a great name!" Jack protested.

"Shouldn't it be obvious, Jack?" Anna rebuked. "Frosty doesn't suit this snowman at all! Frosty the Snowman is supposed to have a corncob pipe and a button nose and eyes made out of coal and a silk top hat! This snowman has no corncob pipe or a hat at all, and its eyes and nose are made out of rocks and a carrot! We can't name it Frosty!"

"Well fine then, your royal highnesses! We'll put it to a vote! Who here thinks that the snowman should be renamed?!"

Both Elsa and Anna giggled as they raise their hands.

"We obviously win, Jack! It's two against one!"

"No! It's two against two! Emmy will vote with me, won't you Emmy? You think Frosty is a great name, right?"

Tiny Emma giggled and gurgled in Elsa's arms in reply.

"Ha! See, guys?! Emma's on my side! It's two against two!"

Anna folded her arms and huffed. "She's just a baby! She doesn't get a vote! And even if she did, you two are just commoners! Me and Elsa are royalty! Royalty gets two votes per person! That makes it four against two!"

"Oh, we're adding special rules onto the voting, huh? In that case, every person here who has magic powers gets four votes each, and with Emma's vote, that makes it five against four!"

"What?! No fair, Jack!"

"Hey! You added the special rules in the first place and started it!"

"Enough you two! The person who gets to name the snowman should be the oldest one here, in others words, me! I'm the oldest by almost a full week!"

Jack threw the brunette princess a scowl. "Okay, fine! What should his name be then, your royal highness?" he grumbled.

Elsa was silent as she considered possible names for a moment, but then her entire face lit up as the perfect name came to her mind, and she nimbly leapt down from her father's throne to gently nudge Jack out of the way and pass him his baby sister before getting behind the snowman in his place. With a small snicker to herself over what she was about to do, she hugged the snowman around from behind in order to take hold of both of its stick arms to make them move like a puppeteer playing with its puppet, and she even played with her voice a bit to give the snowman its own unique accent.

"Hi, I'm Olaf!" she said cheerfully with the snowman's high-pitched voice. "And I like warm hugs!"

Anna immediately approved of the name as she clapped her tiny, chubby hands to express her delight before hopping down from the queen's throne. "I love you, Olaf!" she squealed, actually rushing forward to hug the newly-dubbed Olaf's oval-shaped head with her small arms.

Jack, on the other hand, made a face of disgust when he heard the name. "Olaf? What kind of a name is Olaf?" he asked. "What on earth possessed you to think that's a good name for a super awesome snowman?"

Elsa stuck up her nose at Jack's words. "We don't need our snowman to be 'super awesome' Jack. We just want him to be friendly and sweet!"

"Yeah! That's right! We want him to be our friend!" Anna piped.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine! Name him Olaf if you want! But deep down, Emmy and me will always know that Frosty is his true name! Isn't that right, Emmy?"

Sweet and innocent little Emma waved her tiny little fists in Elsa and Anna's direction as she giggled and gurgled, almost like she was playfully telling the two princesses that she wanted to hit them for naming the snowman Olaf instead of Frosty like Jack wanted.

And with the small dispute over naming the snowman over, the children went back to playing. Anna held Olaf's stick-like arms in front of her and Elsa hugged Olaf from behind with one hand and cradled Emma to her chest tightly with her other while Jack stood off to the sidelines using his powers to make the ice on the floor extra slippery, and then used a bit of additional magic to propel the girls and the snowman forwards all over the ice rink as they swirled and twirled around using Olaf for support. Elsa, Anna, and tiny little Emma seemed to love the fun, and they all laughed and squealed at the top of their lungs as Jack used his powers to spin them around. Jack himself was whooping for joy. He was having a blast watching them having fun with his magic. This had to be one of the best midnight playtimes ever!

As soon as the girls got bored with playing with Olaf, they went back over to Jack, and they skated on the ice for a while side by side, and taking turns twirling around with Emma every so often to make sure that she was still included and didn't get left out of the fun and games. Skating was easy for Jack thanks to his powers, and he zipped all over the floor skating circles around Elsa and Anna, but for the princesses, they both did somewhat okay on the ice, but they still wobbled and toppled over after every couple of minutes. They were really uncoordinated on the ice. Thankfully, Jack always made sure that whenever they were on the verge of slipping and falling over on the ice, they always landed in a soft and fluffy snowdrift, especially if such a tumble happened whenever either of them were snuggling Emma. He would die a thousand times over if they fell while holding his infant sister.

Pretty soon, both Elsa and Anna were black and blue with bruises from their constant fumbles and tumbles on the ice, and they got fed up with skating, and that led to Jack creating a gigantic snow hill for the group to slide down and a smaller snow pile in front of it for them to land in once they reached the bottom. This time, Emma was left on a small snow pile off to the side to ensure that she didn't get hurt before the boy and two princesses climbed to the top of the small mountain of snow so that they could all slide down together.

The three friends formed a type of three-person sled at the top of the snow hill with the biggest one sitting in the back and the smallest sat at the front. In that order, it was Anna sitting in the front followed by Elsa in the middle, and then Jack took up the rear. As soon as they were all ready, Jack grinned, and used his powers to give them an extra fast push off from the top of the semi-large hill. All three of them laughed and cheered as they slid down the snow together. This was such great fun! It was impossible for the trio to squeal out their delight. When they were at the bottom, Jack had slowed down enough to stay on the bottom of the snow pile, but Elsa and Anna had slid down fast enough to fly through the air a bit and land on the snow drift in front of the snow hill Jack had made earlier. The two sisters laughed wholeheartedly as they sat up from the snow pile indentations of their bodies they had made when they landed, and they threw the snow up in the air and at each other and Jack somewhat in their excitement.

"Tickle bump!" Anna cried.

"That was fun, Jack!" said Elsa.

Jack smirked as he puffed out his chest. "Well, what did you guys expect? I'm the living embodiment of all things fun!" he proudly declared.

Tiny Emma giggled as she watched them, and she again crawled right out of her blanket wrappings to try and move closer to where her big brother was standing at the very bottom of the snow hill. Jack bent down and patted her cheek, but quickly straightened back up again when he heard Anna's voice calling out to him.

"Keep the fun going then! Let's keep playing!" the strawberry-blonde-haired princess shouted as she and Elsa got to their feet.

"Yes, please! Make stepping stones for us!" Elsa added,

And then, with little to no time whatsoever for Jack to regain his bearings, the two girls hopped right off the snow pile, but Jack only laughed as he waved his hands and made a second snow pile appear in front of them for them to land on top of. But then they both jumped right off that snow pile and jumped ahead again, so Jack had no choice but to make another one, only this one was a tiny bit higher than the one before, so they were now higher up in the air.

Jack laughed as he made more snow drifts for Elsa and Anna to jump on top of, each one taller than the last. "Hang on!" he called out, his snow magic swirling about around his head as an outward manifestation of his inner playfulness.

"Catch us, Jack!" Anna shouted, she and Elsa continuing their quick hops from snow pile to snow pile.

"Faster!" Elsa added, she and Anna even beginning to race each other a bit as they jumped from each of the tall snow drifts.

"Again! Again! Again!"

"I'm gonna make it to the top of the sled mountain before you, Anna!"

"No way! Me first! I'm gonna get there first!"

"Only in your dreams!"

At first, Jack only continued to laugh at their dialogue as he kept on making more tall snow piles for the girls to land on, but then a panicked look slowly spread across his face. While it was true that Jackson Overland could make ice and snow appear instantaneously with only a mere wave of his hands, the girls were now racing each other so fast, it was getting harder and harder for him to make snow piles fast enough for them to safely land on, and it certainly wasn't helping him at all with how baby Emma had seemingly decided at this exact moment to suddenly latch her little hands onto the edge of his pajama pants and start tugging restlessly on them, as though in a baby way to tell him to pick her up again.

It was a horrible distraction for Jack, as he needed to keep all his focus on Elsa and Anna right at this moment so that he could always ensure that the two of them would have a soft landing on the next snow pile.

"Wait! Guys, please — stop that, Emma!" Jack pleaded, alternating between keeping one careful eye on where Elsa and Anna currently were hopping and then glancing down at his feet where Emma was tugging on the hem of his pajama bottoms. "Elsa, Anna! Slow down! You're both going – Let go of me, Emma!"

Else and Anna paid no mind to Jack's words and continued to race against one another as they jumped from snow pile to snow pile. Why would they take heed of his warning? There was nothing to fear whatsoever in either of their minds. Jack was the master of all things icy and wonderful. He would make sure that they kept having a good time. After all, the things that worry an adult could never once cross the minds of a child and cause them to worry, too. Everything would be all right in the end.

But everything was not all right. Jack was barely managing to keep up with them thanks to how Emma was demanding his complete and undivided attention. He tried to wiggle his leg a bit to shake Emma off, but that decision turned out to be a horrible one, as doing so caused the boy to lose his balance, and he slipped and fell hard onto the icy floor. Jack groaned as he hit the floor, bumping the side of his head in the process. He rubbed the sore spot carefully as he sat back up again, but then he saw, much to his horror, that neither Elsa nor Anna had noticed his small tumble, and were now leaping off their current high up snow pile into midair, completely unaware of the fact that Jack was not preparing another pile for them to softly land in.

"Elsa! Anna!" he cried fearfully.

In a last-ditch effort to keep the two royal princesses from falling from at least ten feet up in the air onto the hard icy floor, Jack sent out a large blast of his magic to try and create another snow pile for the two of them to land in close to the ground. While his intentions had been good, the one thing that the boy didn't take into account was on how fast Elsa and Anna had been falling at the time that he let out the stream of his magic, and instead of the ice magic creating a snow pile right near the floor, the blast whacked Elsa right dab smack in the middle of the head, and then ricocheted off her to momentarily strike Anna as well. It didn't hit Anna nearly as hard as it had hit Elsa, but the blast of magic did succeed in knocking both girls completely unconscious before they both fell lifelessly to the floor.

Neither of them moved so much as a single muscle as they laid there on the floor. They were both completely out cold.

The moment Elsa and Anna hit the ground, Emma screamed. She might only be a baby that didn't know the difference between something simple like an apple or an orange, but she was a smart baby, and she understood that some terrible had occurred when Elsa and Anna fell from the air. She screamed at the top of her lungs, and started to crawl away from Jack, not wanting to be anywhere near him.

Ice cold fear unlike anything Jack had ever experienced in the course of his eight short years of life seeped instantaneously throughout his small body. "Elsa! Anna!" he screamed, dashing forward to where they were on the ground and quickly getting down on his hands and knees right beside their bodies to try and shake them awake. The little boy was horrified. He had hurt them. His two best friends. It had been an accident of course, but still he had hurt them with his powers. How would he ever be able to make this up to them? Were they going to be okay? And what about Emma? It was by the mercy of whatever type of gods or spirits that were watching over them right now that she had not been injured in any way, thank heavens, but she just wouldn't stop screaming. She seemed to be downright afraid of him right now. How could he get her to trust him again? He was supposed to be her big brother! She wasn't supposed to be afraid of him! She was supposed to trust him inexplicably and he would always look after her and protect her no matter what!

Still though, Jack knew he had to fix this somehow. Calming down Emma and convincing her that what he had done was just an accident and that he didn't mean to hurt anyone would have to wait. Right now, Elsa and Anna were his primary concerns.

"Elsa! Anna! Wake up! Please, you guys! Wake up! Wake up!"

Jack shook both girls relentlessly in his effort to get the princesses to awaken, but his efforts were to no avail. Both Elsa and Anna stayed completely unconscious, but something else did happen. Something that really confused the poor boy. Elsa's hair was gradually transforming from its usual chestnut brown to a beautiful shade of platinum blonde. Jack was really mystified, but something similar, but not exactly the same was happening to Anna's hair. A lock of Anna's hair was turning from its lovely strawberry-blonde coloring to a streak of platinum blonde, just like how the entirety of her beloved sister's hair was turning platinum blonde.

Why Elsa's whole head was turning platinum blonde instead of only a lock of her hair turning white, like Anna's was currently doing, Jack didn't know.

Was it because Elsa got the full brunt of his accidental blast of ice magic?

Was Elsa more susceptible to his powers?

Was it because Elsa was older than Anna?

Or maybe it was because Jack considered Elsa to be more important of a friend to him than Anna was, not that he would ever admit that to anyone, ever.

Jack didn't know the answer to these questions, and he didn't know why neither Elsa nor Anna would wake up. All he knew for certain was that he was scared beyond all belief right now that he had possibly killed both of them by pure accident.

"Elsa! Anna! Please! I'm sorry! Wake up! Please, wake up! I'm begging you! Wake up!"

His efforts were to no avail. Elsa and Anna still refused to awaken, and Emma just kept wailing at the top of her lungs.

Jack was already on the verge of panicking, but it was the fact that no matter how hard he tried to shake the girls awake they refused to open their eyes that really sent him over the edge. "Help! Someone! Please! Mommy! Daddy! Help!" he screamed.

What the boy didn't know was that his emotions were directly tied to his ice magic, and due to how scared, guilty, and overwhelmingly sad he was right now due to what he'd done to his two friends, in particular Elsa for reasons unknown to him right at this moment, his powers were spiraling out of control and he was unintentionally causing great havoc in the room. More ice appeared from near his bare feet, and it spread wildly throughout the floor of the Great Hall and was even traveling up the walls, creating a fresh coat of ice and frost. The ice and snow swirling about the hall caused havoc in the air, making almost a windstorm of snow that not only caused Olaf the Snowman to be knocked over and accidentally destroyed, but also sent a great, icy chill throughout the entire room. Now, Jack had never actually known what it felt like to be cold thanks to the subconscious influence his powers had over his body, but for everyone else in the room, primarily baby Emma, it turned down to below freezing temperatures. Elsa and Anna were still unconscious, but they instinctively shivered in their fainted states, and Emma's screams only grew in volume.

Jack started to cry himself as he hugged Elsa's lifeless body close to his chest. "You're okay, Elsa! I got you! I'll… I'll figure out how to help you! You and Anna! Just as soon as I calm Emmy down!" He turned his head to look over to where his sister was still howling at the top of her small lungs. "I'm sorry, Emmy! It's okay! I'm gonna fix this, I swear! Believe me! I'm gonna fix this!"

Emma only cried harder, and that just made Jack's little heart break all over again.

What on earth was he supposed to do to fix this?

At that moment, the thick amount of ice that had been slowly coating the two main doors to the Great Hall were shattered apart as the grand doors slammed open, and Jack jumped a bit as his head snapped around to see who had found them. His and Emma's father, Tobias, and Elsa and Anna's father, King Agnar, had someone managed to break open the doors, and were now standing in front of the two mothers, Kirsten and Queen Idun, as they stared in horror at the scene before them.

In truth, the fact that Jack and Emma had gone missing in the middle of the night was what had led the adults to finding the children here right now. Kirsten had been half asleep in her bed with Tobias when she had realized that it had been far too quiet that night. In the two months that she had become a mother all over again to her new infant daughter, most nights she and her husband would be roused in the middle of their dreams by Emma crying, demanding attention and fresh milk. She had thought it strange that Emma had been so quiet this particular night, and her motherly instincts told her that something was not quite right, so she couldn't stop herself from forcing herself awake to do a quick check on her two children. It was then that she discovered that both Emma and Jack were missing. It wasn't hard for the then frantic mother to figure out even while still half-asleep where they were. It was a well-known fact between the Overland parents and the king and queen that Jack would often sneak out of bed on occasion to play with Elsa and Anna while using his wintry magic, something that all four of them had tried to explain to him on a daily basis was a dangerous thing to do.

What none of them had ever considered however was that Jack would try to include his new infant sister in the fun and games.

Emma was barely older than a newborn.

It was bad enough that Jack didn't listen to any of them when they told him not to use his powers around the royal princesses.

Using them while around a little baby was a thousand times worse.

Kirsten had been in a full out panic as she scrambled to shake her husband awake and tell him what Jack had done, and then the two of them were hurrying quietly through the servant's quarters to ensure that no other servants woke up, and then ran at top speed through the halls of the castle to find King Agnar and Queen Idun. It was bad manners for Jack to go into Elsa and Anna's bedroom in the middle of the night to ask to play even if he was a child and didn't know any better, but for them to enter the princess's bedroom without permission from their parents even in a state of emergency like this as grown adults would have them both dismissed from the staff and thrown out of the palace by dawn the next morning.

Kirsten and Tobias had banged their fists relentlessly against King Agnar and Queen Idun's bedroom door for what seemed like an eternity before the door opened to reveal the tired, somewhat annoyed face of the king and the still half-asleep but confused face of the queen. After the Overlands had explained what they thought Jack might have done, King Agnar and Queen Idun were instantly awake, and within seconds, all four parents were racing down the hall to Elsa and Anna's bedroom, hoping against hope itself that the children were all inside and were hopefully alright. To their dismay, Elsa and Anna's bedroom was completely empty, showing no sign whatsoever where the two girls, Jack, and Emma might have gone.

The adults had all been at a loss for several moments, but that when they heard the screams resound from several floors down below in the Great Hall, and they were all off again without a single hesitation.

It had taken Agnar and Tobias a bit of time, but when they finally managed to wrench open the frozen solid doors to the Great Hall, the two sets of parents had been horrified by the sight in front of them. There were great snow piles throughout the room, with insane coats of thick ice covered the entire surface of the tiled floor, and frost clung onto everything on the walls and ceiling. Tiny defenseless Emma was screaming in terror at the top of her lungs right near Jack's feet, and he was cradling the unconscious form of Elsa on his lap with the equally lifeless body of Anna right next to him. Instead of the eldest princess being a brunette, her hair was platinum blonde and Anna had a matching white streak in her tufts of red hair. Jack had a look of pure horror on his face over what he had accidentally done to his two friends, and great streams of tears were flowing out from his eyes as he gazed at his parents and the king and queen.

The moment Queen Idun saw the state of her two daughters, she screamed.

" _My babies!"_ she shrieked. She forced her way past her husband and Tobias as she ran straight into the room to gather Elsa and Anna into each of her arms. "Elsa! Anna! Oh! Oh, my God! My babies! Please! Open your eyes! Look at Mama! Please, look at Mama!" she begged.

The king was right behind his wife, as he too was frightened of the prospect that his two most precious treasures might be gone forever, but then a blur of another formed whipped right past him. The form of another terrified, loving mother.

" _Emma!"_ Kirsten wailed, dashing right around the hunched form of the hysterical queen to scoop up her still screaming daughter and cradled her protectively close to her chest. "Emma! It's okay! It's okay! Mommy's right here! You're okay!"

"Jackson Overland!" shouted Tobias as he and King Agnar finally managed to reach the two anxious mothers and the one sobbing little boy. "What did you do?!"

Jack cowered under the furious gaze of his sweltering mad father. He was a mischievous little boy, but he always knew when he crossed the line whenever his father shouted his full name. His father had a very short lid on his temper, and although he often got annoyed with him for his happy-go-lucky personality and occasional pranks, it was a whole other matter for Jack all together whenever Tobias completely lost his cool with him. There had been more than one occasion when Jack had to wear long sleeves around the castle for a couple of days to hide the bruises on his arms whenever his father grabbed him too hard after an incident with his powers, not that his mother or the king and queen knew that. Truth be told, Jack loved his father dearly, but when he yelled out his full name, he quickly became very scared of what his father might do.

The little dark-haired boy gulped as he bowed his head. "Daddy…! I'm sorry! It was just an accident—"

"An accident?!" Tobias yelled. "Look what has happened! The princesses are hurt and Emma – Your own sister! — is screaming in pain!"

"Emmy's fine, Daddy! I swear!" he quickly protested. "She just got scared! I didn't hurt her! I'd never _ever_ hurt Emmy!"

"So you instead hurt the royal princesses with that witchcraft?! Jack, we have told you so many times not to use those cursed powers of yours!"

Jack whimpered as Tobias harshly grabbed hold of his arm to emphasize his point. "I didn't… I didn't mean to! Please, let go! That hurts!"

"That's enough, Tobias!" King Agnar cut in as he looked away from where he was checking over Anna's head to instead shoot a sharp look at the Overland patriarch. "Yelling isn't going to help!"

Tobias had to literally bite down on his tongue to remember to keep a civil tone as he released his grip on his frightened son. Shouting at the king of the country was a definite no-no, after all. "With all due respect, your majesty, I do believe that this is the perfect time to yell! We have _all_ told him countless times not to play around with those ice powers of his! Especially around Elsa, Anna, and most recently Emma! This is getting out of hand and it has to stop!"

"Just stop it already, Tobias!" Kirsten snapped, glancing up from Emma to shoot her husband a glare. "King Agnar is right! Yelling at Jack won't help at all!"

Tobias was furious at his wife, but before he could say anything, Kirsten was already turning her attention to her beloved son.

"Jack, you need to tell us what happened. How did Princess Elsa and Princess Anna get knocked out?"

Jack wiped the tears away from his eyes with his fist as he sniffled. "We… We were just playing! Me, Elsa, Anna, and Emma! We even built a snowman! We… we were sledding, but then Elsa and Anna went jumping from snow pile to snow pile! I lost my concentration making the piles and I hit them with my magic by accident! It was an accident!" he sobbed.

Queen Idun was completely oblivious to what everyone else was saying. All her focus was on her two precious little girls. Her dear sweet Elsa and Anna. Elsa was all but her miniature clone in every single way. In addition to her beautiful chestnut brown hair and her mirror image face, she took to ladylike manners so easily and loved to follow her mother into the gardens some days to enjoy teatime together. She was her firstborn child and her beloved crown princess… And Anna… Oh, lively and energetic Anna… Anna was the epitome of everything sweet and wonderful. She loved to forget the fact she was a princess and run around and get dirty, but she still found a way to make anyone smile at her antics, what with how she made a game out of everything. Anna was so kind, it was impossible for anyone to ever hate her. How Idun had ever managed to create two perfect and sweet little girls, she didn't know, but the fact that this night could very well be the night she could lose them both at once had sent a panic throughout her body that she never knew she could ever feel, and she didn't dare to stop trying to shake her two dear treasures with all her might to try and force them to wake up again as tears pooled forth from her eyes.

"They're both ice cold!" she gasped through her tears and she cradled both her little girls close to her heart.

A determined look spread across King Agnar's face. There was no way his sweet little girls were going to die tonight.

Not if he had any say in it.

"I know where we all have to go," he declared.

And just like that, less than ten minutes later, the two families were on top of horses from the palace stables, Queen Idun with Anna on her lap and Elsa on King Agnar's, and Tobias had Emma in his arms as Jack rode with his mother, and all four of them were galloping as fast as they could away from Arendelle in the direction of the faraway mountains, following the path on an old, almost falling apart map that he had kept hidden in the palace library for many years now that led to the home of great and powerful creatures that might be able to help his daughters.

And trailing behind the horse being ridden by Kirsten and Jack, a great trail of ice and frost zoomed along on the stone pavement after them because of how out of control Jack's emotions were right now.

Jack saw the trail of frost traveling along behind his and his mother's horse as they all rode together out of the city, and he turned in place in his seat on the saddle to give his mother a tight hug.

"Mommy… I'm sorry! I'm really sorry," he whimpered into her shoulder. "I didn't mean to hurt them! I didn't! I didn't!"

Kirsten gave her sweet son a small smile as she looked away momentarily from the path ahead to softly stroke his dark brown hair. "It's okay, Jack. I know it was an accident. King Agnar and Queen Idun knows that it was an accident. Everyone knows that you didn't mean any harm."

"Daddy… Daddy doesn't…" Jack muttered.

Kirsten stiffened a bit at that, but then forced herself to keep smiling and sound strong. "Your father just had a bad scare, Jack. He was worried about Emma's safety and Elsa and Anna. He didn't mean to be short with you. Okay?"

"Okay…"

"Now, you do Mommy a favor and keep your eyes right on King Agnar, alright? Your Mommy's look out. You tell her which way to go. That sound good?"

"Yes, Mommy…"

"That's my good boy."

* * *

Deep in the forest of Arendelle, hidden away by a thick grove of evergreen trees far off the main pathways that ran through the green woodlands, there was a bedpost. An old bedpost with wood that was gradually rotting away and becoming steadily covered with an overgrowth of moss and other greenery from many years' worth of neglect to its care and upkeeping. It would normally be considered strange that there was a bedpost in the middle of the forest, since bedposts generally belonged inside people's houses with soft and fluffy mattresses on top of them, but this was not an ordinary bedpost. It belonged to one of the most powerful beings on the planet, and it was actually one of many entryways that were spread across the globe to the said mysterious being's home, deep down in the very center of the earth.

It was the home of Pitch Black, otherwise known as the Nightmare King, or more commonly, the Boogeyman.

The Boogeyman was just as spooky looking as children everywhere had always believed him to be. He was a tall fellow with glossy black hair that was slicked back into sharp spikes, and he had golden eyes that could pierce through the darkest corners of a child's room, making them glow brightly. He donned a long, ankle-length robe with a v-neck collar that helped to conceal him in the shadows, and his skin was a dull shade of pale gray, making him look almost pasty white when compared to his black hair and black clothing. He was definitely creepy looking, and he thrived in knowing he could frighten anyone just by his appearance alone.

Pitch thrived on fear, primarily children's fear. In fact, fear was what kept him alive. He haunted children's room when they were fast asleep in their little beds, and would turn their lovely dreams into chilling nightmares that would often scare the poor little boys and girls into waking up screaming and crying as they suffered through the aftermath of the terrifying visions he left them with. With every nightmare a child suffered through due to his influence he grew stronger, and would even be able to turn their dreams into actual, living and breathing Nightmare spirits that were akin to black sand horses with glowing yellow eyes.

In the past, his darkly lit lair would be filled with the biggest, most frightening Nightmares from beyond even his own wildest dreams. They were great, monstrous-sized stallions that would paw the ground restlessly with their black sandy hooves, eager to fulfill his demands of spreading dread and fear to the children of the world.

Oh yes, the Dark Ages had been such a fun time for the Nightmare King. Everyone was frightened and miserable, and that made it such a happy time for Pitch. He wielded enough power to make enough Nightmares to start his own personal army. He had been so close to building up the perfect army to plunge the children of the world into an endless world of darkness and fear, but that was when divine intervention stepped in to stop his master plan.

Intervention from the Man in the Moon.

The Man in the Moon was a curious fellow, and he went by many names. Manny and MiM being two of the most common ones. He was all but silent to the magical creatures of the world, but he influenced what he wanted to tell his followers by occasionally casting moonbeam shadows down to earth so as to communicate with them. He had once been an actual person back during the Dark Ages, but when Pitch had prepared to threaten the children of the world with his army, the Man in the Moon stepped in and brought forth other beings to stop him. The Guardians of Childhood, who would all protect the children of the world with their very lives, while also bringing them wonder and hope and dreams and memories of all that was good.

The battle that had waged between Pitch and the Guardians had been long and hard, but in the end, the Guardians had unfortunately come out on top and the children of the world had simply written him off as nothing more than a silly superstition for when they had bad dreams.

"There's nothing to fear! It was only a Nightmare from the Boogeyman! He can't really hurt you!"

All at once, Pitch had lost everything. His power from the fear of the children of the world, his Nightmare army that had been supplied by his mass quantity of fear, and most importantly, his pride.

His pride had been wounded that day when the Guardians had defeated him.

He would find a way to regain his powers and get back at them.

Somehow. Someway.

On this night, Pitch was restless and bored as he wandered aimlessly through the winding corridors of his dark lair. Ever since the fall of his precious Dark Ages and the wondrous Golden Age began for the Man in the Moon and his oh-so-special Guardians, he had been weak. Weak enough for his Nightmares to gradually die away until there was only one left that was so small and frail looking, it was practically the size of a small, sick pony. Children didn't believe in the Boogeyman anymore, so Pitch had no way to become powerful again. These days, he spent most of his time trying to figure out the perfect way to regain his powers by spreading mass fear across the globe like he did in the past. If he could just make the perfect plan to gain enough power to spread fear once again, the rest of the chips would easily fall back into place.

After all, he may have lost that final battle long ago against the Guardians, but not before taking out their most promising and dangerous member. So long as he could somehow regain his powers once again, he could and would be able to create a new age of Darkness and Fear, and this time, the Guardians wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him.

But first, he just needed to think up the perfect plan!

Pitch sighed as he approached his last surviving Nightmare and patted its black sand neck. "It's been so long, hasn't it, my sweet?" he crooned to the sickly-looking beast. "We've been exiled here for far too long. We must find a way to reclaim our rightful place as the most powerful spirits in the world."

The Nightmare faintly neighed in reply, too weak to do much else in response.

"Mark my words, I shall conquer the Guardians in the very near future. They will pay for causing me to lose all my believers in the past and leaving us both in these pitiful states of being. But we must find a way to spread fear once again. Help me think!"

The Nightmare ignored Pitch as it turned away from its master to instead go and find a quiet corner to lay down in. These days, the Nightmare had little purpose to exist in this world other than to be a creature for his master to vent his frustrations on or to proclaim his desires to plunge the world into darkness and fear once again. The Nightmare was tired this night, and had no desire to listen to it for what had to be the hundredth thousandth time. Pitch could tell it his grand wishes again tomorrow, but for tonight, the Nightmare wanted to rest. With little to no power whatsoever, it felt sickly and tired all the time, and slept whenever it could.

Pitch growled as he watched his last remnant of the past walk away from him. This was nothing short of embarrassing. How could he reclaim his old powers again if he didn't even have a good source of fear to feed from?

After all, it's not like some random child would suddenly experience a vast quantity of fear so great in the next five seconds that it could replenish him all in one fell swoop!

But then, almost as though the fates had somehow heard the last random thought that had run through Pitch's mind, a great quantity of a child's fear unlike anything he had felt in the most recent years suddenly surged throughout all of the lair, and Pitch nearly stumbled as he felt the wave sweep over him. It wasn't as though he was overwhelmed by the emotional turmoil that he was experiencing from this random child. If anything, he could already feel his powers growing stronger by the second just from this unexpected visitor – whoever he or she was – passing by the entrance to his lair overhead. He had simply been unprepared to experience this much fear at this exact moment, and in such a large amount, too.

Pitch quickly overcame his momentary startle, and then allowed the sweet taste of terror to wash over his being. It had been so long since he had tasted such a pure, raw fear from an innocent child. Whoever this child was, young or old, boy or girl, he had to find him or her. He had to try and suction as much fear as he could out of it before they calmed down, or if possible, find a way to keep him or her scared long enough for him to create a few more Nightmares and heal his last sick one. This was too good an opportunity for him to miss. He'd be a fool to let it slip past him without taking advantage.

And with that thought in mind, Pitch chuckled darkly as he vanished into the shadows of a wall, and then reappeared at the very entrance of his lair beyond the hole at the surface of the forest floor hidden by the rotting wood bedpost.

At first, Pitch was confused as he didn't see any trace of a child anywhere. The only way he could have felt all this fear at once was if there was fearful child somewhere in the nearby vicinity. And on top of that, it was the middle of the night. While Pitch thrived in the darkness, he knew very well that children were generally tucked away in their beds at this late hour. Why would a child be all the way out here in the middle of the forest at nearly two o'clock in the morning?

But then, four blurs whipped through the forest at top speed, followed closely behind by a thick trail of ice, and upon feeling the lingering traces of the pure and unadulterated fear traveling along at the same speed as the four blurs, Pitch's curiosity of the situation increased ten-fold. He was invisible to these mortals as they didn't believe in the Boogeyman, but he was still capable of interacting and watching them despite that. These were obviously humans riding horses, but the children accompanying them were what had drawn him to them in the first place. There was a baby being carried by a furious-looking man, two unconscious little girls being cradled by an obviously anxious man and woman, and a sobbing little dark-haired boy in the lap of a distraught young woman.

If it weren't for the fact that three out of the four adults looked panicked and two of them were impeccably dressed in the finest clothing imaginable, Pitch would have easily assumed that this was some type of kidnapping case, but this was obviously something else entirely judging by that magical trail of ice following the horse that was carrying the panicked woman with the crying boy. Even if Pitch hadn't felt the mass amounts of fear coming off the group – off the boy in particular, he quickly realized – that ice would have been more than enough to grab his attention. Who were these people? What had made this boy so terrified that he was radiating enough fear that he can replenish his powers and heal his sick Nightmare? He needed to find out more.

A sickening grin spread across Pitch's face as he thought that, and he hurried along after them via melting into the shadows, determined to find out more.

* * *

But Pitch wasn't the only being in the forest that had been attracted to the strange party riding on horseback at top speed. Not too far away from the rotting bedpost entrance to the evil spirit's lair, there was a little boy heading through the forest. He was around the same age as Jack and Elsa with golden blonde hair and big light brown eyes, but unlike Pitch, the boy was not alone. He was accompanied by a small baby reindeer with white fur around its neck and tiny, still growing antlers on top of its head. It was carrying a small lantern in its mouth as it pulled the sled that the little boy was riding in, and the boy was sitting on top of a small block of solid ice.

His name was Kristoff Bjorgman, the orphaned child that had been given room and board with the team of Arendelle ice harvesters, provided that he too learned the trade of the business and harvested a few cubes of ice during every trip up the North Mountain. The reindeer accompanying him was his best and only true friend in the world: Sven.

Kristoff had been an orphan for as long as he could remember. His earliest memories involved fighting with other kids in the Arendelle city orphanage for an extra scrap of bread at dinnertime before bed. It had also been a living hell living in the orphanage, which was why he had chosen to run away from the cursed place last year and take his chances on the streets to survive. He wasn't the only one either to escape the place. He had been joined by his only true friend in the poor house, but during their escape from the hellhole, the matron had seen the two boys trying to run away and had called the other villagers to try and help her catch them. The boys had been separated while dodging the villagers, and while Kristoff had managed to get away from the mob by hiding in the cart of some ice harvesters about to leave the capitol to go back up the North Mountain on an expedition to get more ice, Kristoff had no idea what had happened to his buddy. Maybe he got sent back to the orphanage, maybe he got away. All Kristoff knew was that he had never seen him again, and although he felt guilty about the fact that the two of them were separated, he wasn't risking his chance of getting away from the orphanage by traveling with the ice harvesters to go back and look for him. It wasn't an easy life following in the footsteps of the ice harvesters who had been kind enough to offer him a place in their ranks rather than send him back to the city, but it was highly preferable to the little boy when compared to fighting with the other kids at the children's poorhouse. And as it turned out, running away from that hellhole was the best decision he had ever made, because if he stayed there, he never would have met Sven, his pet baby reindeer and now only friend in the whole world.

It was actually because of Sven that Kristoff now lived by his new personal philosophy of life:

Reindeers are better than people.

And indeed, tonight more than ever before, Kristoff believed this to be true, considering how the adult ice harvesters hadn't even slowed down on their trek down from the peak of the North Mountain or even realize that he was lagging so far behind them. If it weren't for the fact that Kristoff had traveled this forest path with Sven in the dark at least a thousand times before in the past, he would have easily wound up lost.

It was a summer night, but there was a strange chill in the air that made Kristoff shiver a bit in his long-sleeved, dark purple jacket he had worn for the expedition in the icy mountains. The boy shivered from the bizarre cold temperature from atop his single block of ice as he leaned forward a bit to pat Sven's neck. "Cold out here, huh, Sven?"

The baby reindeer craned its neck to look back at him instead of paying attention to the road ahead, and then gave Kristoff a nod of agreement to his words. Kristoff had been Sven's friend for over a year now, and during that time, Kristoff had come to figure out what his reindeer buddy often thought whenever he spoke to his animal companion, and had developed a habit of expressing Sven's internal dialogue so that the two of them could have a type of one-sided conversation.

"'Yes, it is! Strange weather for summer!'" Kristoff verbalized for the reindeer. Then he laughed as he answered his old pal. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was late fall or early winter with how cold it is! We better hurry and catch up to the rest of those stuffy adults! The faster we get back, the faster we get hot soup and fresh carrots!"

The reindeer happily snorted at that idea, and was just about to continue pulling Kristoff and the mini sled behind him with a new spring in his step when four great blurs suddenly barreled right past them on the trail, going the opposite way that he and Sven were going. Within seconds, Kristoff pulled back the reins of the sleight to force Sven to a halt before whipping around to see what had just zoomed past them. He was surprised to see four adults on horseback with kids in each of their arms riding like the wind as they continued on down the trail, either oblivious to the fact that they had just ridden past the small sled in their rush, or else considered him beneath their notice in whatever state of panic they were in. Kristoff would have just shrugged the incident off and continued on their way if he hadn't seen what was trailing along on the ground behind the horse ridden by a frantic woman with dark brown hair and a boy about his age who was full out sobbing into her shoulder.

"Ice…?" Kristoff whispered, confused but at the same time awestruck by the sight of the beautiful trail of perfectly crystal clear wintry substance that was following the frantic party of adults. Ice was Kristoff's life. To see ice appearing out of thin air like this was nothing short of enchanting to the little boy.

Who were those people that were making this magical ice appear like this?

Kristoff was puzzled, but before he could say or do anything to try and figure out what could possibly be going on, something else caught his attention from the shadows of some nearby trees just off the forest path.

Or rather, someone.

Someone dark, evil, and undeniably sinister.

Kristoff and Sven both ducked down to avoid being spotted as a man with pale gray skin, oily black hair, and wearing a black robe that swirled around his feet as mysteriously as shadows followed the group on horseback from the cover of the trees. Kristoff couldn't quite hear what the man was saying due to how far away he was, but he was muttering something under his breath that sounded something like, "… interesting, very interesting…" and "… could very well be my chance…" as he chuckled rather ominously to himself out loud.

All in all, the man was very creepy, and just looking at him made the hairs on the back of Kristoff's neck stand right up.

Common sense told Kristoff that he should simply sit back down on the sled and urge Sven to start running as fast as he could in the opposite direction that the evil man and the rest of those adults and kids had gone in, but something about the situation was calling out to him, beckoning him to instead follow all of them and see what was going on.

Besides, if he just turned around, he'd never find out where all that beautiful ice came from.

Ah, screw the rest of the men in the ice harvesters! Adventure was right at his fingertips! He had to see where it would lead him!

And with that final thought, a huge grin broke across Kristoff's face, and he hurried to take the handle of the lantern out of Sven's mouth, blow out the candle inside and toss the lamp off to the side, and then unfastened his best friend's reins from the mini sled that he had been riding in. Kristoff noticed that his friend was giving him a quizzical look, and couldn't help but translate what was going on in his mind once again per habit.

"'Wait, what're you doing, Kristoff? Shouldn't we leave this area and not get mixed up in whatever is going on?'" Kristoff laughed at the translation as he finished unhooking his pal to the sled, and then patted his neck before climbing up onto his back so he could ride him like a horse. "C'mon, buddy! It's an adventure! That Shadow Man in the trees looks scary, but we can take him if he gives us trouble! Let's go see what that ice was about! It looked so cool!"

There was a momentary pause as the baby reindeer considered his human friend's words, but then the animal seemed to nod his head in assent before dashing as fast as he could on his four tiny legs to try and catch up to the other humans who were riding in the forest, but at the same time, sticking to the shadows of the opposite side of the tree line where the evil man shrouded in shadows had been lurking about. While the dynamic duo were indeed interested in what the human party was doing and why that trail of ice was following the horse carrying the distressed woman and the scared little boy, they certainly weren't stupid enough to ride in the middle of the path where either the humans or that pale man in black could easily spot them.

Eventually, the two unlikely buddies managed to catch sight of the human party up ahead, but instead of continuing on the forest trail, they all turned sharply to the left and started riding off the trail, and the mysterious stranger quickly followed them, still staying close to the shadows as he tailed them. How the shadow man could follow the group so close behind them without any of them noticing, Kristoff didn't really know, but he did know for a fact that if he and Sven didn't hurry, they would lose track of the group and become completely lost in the forest.

"Faster, Sven!" Kristoff urged as he kicked the heels of his boots lightly into Sven's sides to urge him to hurry, but also not risk hurting him.

Sven forced his legs to run faster than ever upon hearing Kristoff's words, not wanting to let him down, but the two of them quickly realized that they instead needed to slow down rather than speed up when they too made the sharp turn to the right. Instead of there being more tall trees and dirt ground ahead of them, there was a low area that led to an entirely rocky alcove, and almost every rock that was spread out in random places in the gorge seemed to be covered with great vegetation. Primarily moss. And there were also a number of bare, dead trees and some hot steam geysers surrounding area, making the place even more strange and mysterious.

Kristoff and Sven spied the people ahead of them on the horses ride right into the center of the small valley with the kids still in their arms, although the hysterical woman did put the crying boy down on the ground next to her as he was not unconscious unlike the other two girls in their pajamas or a baby like the bundle that the angry-looking man was cradling to his chest. The mysterious, evil-looking man was – to both Kristoff and Sven's amazement – flying in the air to be able to watch whatever was about to happen from behind the cover of some boulders that made up the top of the strange rock valley in the middle of the forest. Again, Kristoff wondered briefly if the mysterious shadow man could even be seen by anyone in present company other than him and Sven, but then he heard one of the adults down in the valley below – the other man with the strawberry-blonde hair and mustache – start to speak seemingly to the air in front of him, and he and Sven were forced to duck behind a particularly large boulder in front of them to also avoid being seen, but they did peek their heads out from behind the oversized rock a bit to watch the strange happenings.

* * *

Kristoff wasn't the only one who was confused. From where Pitch was hiding in the shadows near the tops of the boulders at the rim high above the small valley, he was gazing down at the humans below him with furrowed brows and an obviously confused expression plastered to his face. He was well aware of what this place was: it contained other magical creatures, but unlike him, these creatures were undeniably good and could be seen by humans without needing to be believed in first. Who exactly were these humans that knew about this place?

At that moment, one of the men in the group began calling out desperately for the creatures, and Pitch leaned in anxiously, eager to learn all he could about this curious group of humans and find out what had made that boy clinging to his mother so scared that he could supply him with more than enough raw terror to help replenish his powers slightly.

* * *

Jack was confused as his mother climbed down off her horse and then reached up to safely help him off the beast and get down on the ground, too. He knew that the king said that they were going to see someone that could help heal Elsa and Anna from the ice blast he had accidentally hit them both in the head with, but there was no one around here. There was no person or even a hermit hut anywhere in sight. They were simply in the middle of a small rock valley in the middle of nowhere in the forested mountains.

Just what was going on?

The little boy couldn't stop himself from wandering a few steps away from his mother to tug a bit on his father's pants leg. "Daddy? Where are we?" he asked.

But Jack's innocent question was met with a cold glare from Tobias as he handed the still screaming Emma over to Kirsten. "Not now, Jack! The king is looking for someone!" he hissed.

Jack flinched from the harsh tone, but didn't stay silent. "But who is he looking for? There's no one around—"

"Jack! Quiet!" his father snapped.

"Tobias!" Kirsten said sharply as she tried to gently rock Emma back to sleep, but not to much success as the little girl was still wailing. "We said it before! Don't yell at him! He's upset and scared enough as it is!"

Tobias shot his wife a cold look, but never got the opportunity to say anything further, because at that moment, King Agnar had climbed down off his horse while balancing Elsa carefully in one arm before turning to help Queen Idun down off her horse too, as she was carrying Anna. As soon as they were all down off their horses, he began to shout out to the air in front of him.

"Please, help!" he yelled out desperately. "It's my daughters! They need your help! Please!"

Jack was now completely lost as he hugged one of his mother's legs, too upset with his father to stay close to him. Why was King Agnar yelling to the wind? There was no one here! Elsa and Anna needed a doctor! Not a trip out into the middle of nowhere just for the king to prove to everyone that he apparently had a few screws loose in his head.

He opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but then something strange and completely unexpected happened, and his eyes went wide as he stared at the mysterious sight.

* * *

Kristoff and Sven's jaws simultaneously dropped as they watched in utter disbelief as all the loose rocks and boulders in the valley started shaking all at once. It was all very bizarre, but then they all began rolling one by one and circled around where the four adults, the scared boy, the two unconscious girls, and the little baby were all standing in the very center of the valley.

Kristoff couldn't stop himself. He turned and shared a look of surprise with his best pal. What on earth was happening now? The mysterious shadow man was one thing, and the ice trailing after the horse with the dark-haired woman and the little boy was strange, but this was something else entirely. If Kristoff hadn't seen the mirrored look of shock on his buddy Sven's face, he would have been sure he was hallucinating all this. It was all just too unbelievable.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg to all the strange and mysterious things happening tonight, at least for young Kristoff Bjorgman.

Slowly, all the moss-covered rocks that had rolled around the group of people seemed to somehow unfold themselves, and then, rather unexpectedly, two arms, two legs, and small heads all sprouted forth from the rocks, revealing rather small and round rock people wearing moss for tunics as clothing, and with small glowing pebbles and crystals being used for jewelry.

One of the little rock people that was standing nearest the group of visitors gasped rather loudly when he recognized the man with the strawberry-blonde hair and the small mustache. "It's the king!" he proclaimed.

Many of the small rock people that were gathered around all gasped at the realization that they were in the presence of royalty, and they all murmured anxiously amongst themselves as they bent over as best as they could into low, respectful bows. Kristoff himself was amazed. He hadn't realized that the tall man with the unconscious blonde girl and the woman with the younger unconscious girl were the king and queen of Arendelle, which meant that the two girls had to be Princess Elsa and Princess Anna. But who were the other people, then? The scared boy, the frantic woman with the baby, and the mean-looking man? And why had they all come to see these rock people?

Then it suddenly occurred to Kristoff that these weren't simply tiny people made of rocks.

They were something much more extraordinary.

"Trolls…?" he whispered, completely in awe.

But Kristoff barely had time to absorb this sudden revelation, because less than a second later, the rock that he and Sven had been peering over suddenly started vibrating, and then unfurled itself in-between the duo to reveal a female rock troll that was also trying to listen in.

"Shush! I'm trying to listen!" she whispered to the boy and the tiny reindeer.

Kristoff was highly taken aback by the sudden, unexpected appearance of the rock troll, but Sven didn't seem to care one way or another, as he began licking the lady troll's cheek. The lady troll was surprised by the abrupt reindeer kiss to her cheek, and turned away from the happenings down below to take a good look at Kristoff and Sven.

"Cuties…" she mused, a big smile spreading across her face as she patted both Kristoff and Sven's cheeks. Kristoff was still very befuddled by what was going on, but what the troll said next knocked all coherent thought right out of his head. "I'm going to keep you!"

The apprentice ice harvester blinked. "K-Keep us?" he asked. "Why? You… You don't wanna eat us, do you?!"

His words made the troll laugh a bit. "Eat you? Certainly not! I've just always wanted to be a mama. You look lost. Do you not have a mama of your own?"

Kristoff shook his head. "No, I… I barely remember my parents. They died a long time ago. It's just me and Sven."

"That settles it then! You will henceforth be my son! What is your name, young one?"

"I'm Kristoff! Kristoff Bjorgman, and this is my best friend in the whole wide world! Sven!"

Sven's pink tongue flopped off to the side of his mouth as he cuddled his face up against the rock troll's side, earning another big smile from the magical creature.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, Kristoff, Sven. You may call me Bulda. Mama Bulda. From here on out, you will both always have a family with me and the rest of the rock troll tribe."

Kristoff smiled, and he threw his arms around Bulda and hugged her as tight as he could. He wouldn't be alone anymore with just Sven for company. He had a family again for the first time in who knows how long! Who cared about what was going on down in the clearing below? The fact that he had someone to call his mother again meant the world to the little boy, and nothing else mattered to him in the slightest.

In his joy for finding someone who was willing to adopt him, Kristoff forgot all about his initial reasoning for following the strangers here to the Valley of the Living Rocks.

And he also forgot all about the mysterious shadow man that was also hiding and watching everything from his perch high above.

* * *

Jack clung to his mother's leg tightly as the green, moss-covered rocks rolled up around him, her, his father, and King Agnar and Queen Idun. He didn't know what was going on now, but he did know that he was more than a little freaked out by the mysteriously rolling rocks that were forming a large circle around all of them. Had he been in his normal, playful and mischievous set of mind, he would have found the rocks rumbling and tumbling around him nothing short of enchanting, as it seemed as though they too were something magical, just like him.

But Jackson Overland was not in his right state of mind at this moment. He was confused over why King Agnar had brought them all here, and terrified over the states he had caused Elsa and Anna to be in, not to mention feeling guilty for scaring his sister into such a horrified mindset that she was still screaming now… around fifteen to twenty minutes after the accident in the Great Hall had occurred.

There seemed to be no limit to the number of small mossy rocks that were rolling right up to all of them. Ten… Twenty… Thirty… Jumping up to fifty… Scratch that. Maybe around a hundred…! It just never seemed to end! But the more that appeared, the more nervous Jack became. He had always thought that King Agnar was a kind man, but why was he summoning rocks like this? Had his accident with Elsa and Anna finally pushed the good ruler to the breaking point? Were these enchanted rocks what he was going to use for a possible death sentence? It might seem like a silly thought to a reasonable adult that that was what Jack was thinking at this exact moment, but to a little boy who had – albeit unintentionally – injured the only two daughters of the king and queen of the realm and was beyond terrified at the very thought that they may never be okay again, it was a very realistic prospect.

Just what was going on?

But then, all of the rocks seemed to somehow be able to uncurl their stone bodies, and Jack had to blink twice in disbelief when he saw that they all took the form of tiny people made completely out of rocks with the moss on them being used as clothing as well as strands of leafy green hair, although the females also had wildflowers strewed across their heads as well. They even had rare and precious gems and pretty crystals for jewelry, with the boy trolls wearing blue and green stones, and the girls with pink and red jewels on their simple, twine necklaces.

They were a tribe of rock trolls.

Jack gaped at the sight of the mystical creatures, and they gaped right back at all of them. Or rather, at King Agnar in particular.

"It's the king!" one of the male trolls gasped, sounding completely astonished that they had been graced by a visit from royalty.

The rest of the members of the rock troll tribe murmured anxiously amongst themselves about the fact that the royal family was here, but all the noise died away when another troll started to walk forward. This troll looked much older and wiser than any of the other trolls in the valley, and the rest of the tribe quickly cleared a path for him to the visitors. He was obviously the leader, as in addition to the long, lion-like mane of ferns for hair on his stone head, he wore a moss cape with a darker shade of green swirls imprinted upon it that trailed along behind him on the rocky, mossy ground, symbolizing his status as the ruler of the tribe. There was also a different set of crystals on his necklace than on the ones that the rest of the members of the tribe were wearing. Unlike the blue and green crystals that the boys wore and the pink and red ones that were around the girls' necks, the elder rock troll had several strands of delicate yellow gemstones looped around his neck, glittering a bit under the light of the full moon. He also had a rather large and round stone nose in the exact center of his face, and he was the only troll with eyebrows, even if those eyebrows were composed of the same ferns that were used for the mane of his hair and were bushier than any eyebrows Jack had ever seen.

Despite his fear for his friends and his little sister, Jack was amazed to see these rock trolls, and the king and queen seemed to be unfazed by their appearance, but his parents' reactions were the exact opposite. Kirsten shrieked in terror when she saw the troll leader approach, and Tobias backed away rather nervously as his cold glare only increased tenfold.

"What the hell are these things?!" he demanded, his furious expression whipping around to glare accusatively at King Agnar and Queen Idun.

"Trolls. Rock trolls. They are gifted in the arts of healing magic," Agnar answered him, keeping his tone relatively civil so as to not lose his temper at the Overland patriarch even though he was acting so horribly at the moment.

Under normal circumstances, both King Agnar and Queen Idun would have been rightfully offended by the fact that Tobias was forgetting his place in life and that he was yelling at them, the king and queen of the realm, but the man was stressed enough as it was and not to mention shocked beyond belief at the sudden appearance of the rock troll tribe. They could let his tone and bad manners slide. At least for tonight.

The rock troll leader heard Tobias's words, and politely bowed before all of them. "My apologies if we alarmed you, good sir. I am Pabbie, leader of the Rock Troll Tribe. I, on behalf of all the trolls in the tribe, would like to wish you all a warm welcome, in particular both of you, your majesties."

Agnar, Idun, and Kirsten all smiled politely at the kind welcome from the rock troll leader, but Tobias just nodded shortly and Jack hid himself slightly behind his mother's leg. Although he was curious about these strange creatures, his wonder over seeing them had mostly worn off, and he was back to feeling scared again. He just stayed as quiet and as invisible as possible as the adults spoke to Pabbie.

"It is good to see you, Pabbie, but I am afraid that this is not a social call," claimed King Agnar, his brows furrowing slightly as he nodded towards the unconscious Elsa in his arms and towards Idun who was cradling Anna.

Idun's eyes filled with tears once again as she addressed the wise, magical creature. "It's our daughters. They were injured quite by accident after an incident with magic."

"An incident with magic? How did that happen?"

"It was because of this young boy here."

She gestured to Jack, but Jack hid himself behind his mother again. He was ashamed of himself enough as it was for accidentally hurting Elsa and Anna and scaring Emma so badly that she was still screaming. He really didn't want to be yelled at again for what had to be the umpteenth time.

Pabbie didn't mind that Jack was hiding slightly from him. He simply nodded kindly to the boy before doing the same to his parents. "It's a pleasure to meet you, young one," he said rather pleasantly.

Kirsten seemed to have finally managed to gather her thoughts, and did her best to try and shush Emma one last time before attempting to curtsy as best as she could while holding the squirming, squealing baby. "I am Kirsten Overland. This is my husband Tobias, our daughter Emma – and I would like to apologize for her screaming! – and our son Jack." She nodded to her son as she tried to urge him to step forward. "Go on, Jackie. Say hello."

Cautiously, Jack did as his mother asked and stepped around her so that Pabbie could see him clearly.

"Hi…" he said rather quietly.

As he stood there rather awkwardly, a ray of moonlight broke out from beyond a particularly large cloud hanging overhead, and happened to fall right over Jack. None of the adults paid this any mind as there were currently more pressing matters on their mind, but Pabbie took note of it, as did the rest of the trolls watching from the sidelines. The Moon was a very important figure after all, and if the moonbeams were descending upon Jack in particular, a boy who the adults had revealed possessed some form of magic…

Excited whispers broke out amongst the trolls, but Pabbie easily silenced them with a vague wave of his tiny stone hand. This was not the time to be excited over this boy. A boy that they had been told about by the Moon himself. He hadn't come here of his own free will to listen to them. He had come here accompanied by his parents and the king and queen because of an accident he had apparently caused with his powers. No, Pabbie had to deal with the present situation being presented to him rather than be like the rest of his tribe and get all excited by the fact that they had finally found and met this boy.

And with that final thought, Pabbie forced those ideas right out of his mind as he carefully studied the frightened, dark-haired human boy standing before him. He even took one of Jack's small hands in his own and appraised his fingers.

"What type of magic do you have, Jack?" he cautiously asked the boy, trying to be mindful not to make him even more afraid.

"I… I make ice with my hands. And snow," Jack told him.

Pabbie nodded as he continued to study Jack's palms. Then he glanced up at Kirsten and Tobias.

"Was he born with the powers, or cursed?"

"H-He was born with them," Kirsten replied, her worry for her son evident in her tone, even if she was still preoccupied with trying to calm Emma. How she was still crying and screaming so hard after all this time was anyone's guess.

"And they're getting stronger!" Tobias added as he stepped forward. "Look, I don't know what any of you are exactly or what you can do, but I want you to take that ice and snow nonsense out of my boy this instant! It's getting out of hand and it has to stop!"

Pabbie became very rigid at those words while the rest of the trolls watching struggled to hide their gasps. That was completely out of the question. No way was he going to remove the ice and snow magic from young Jackson Overland. Too much depended on that magic far in the future.

"My apologies, Sir Overland, but I'm afraid that that is beyond my powers," Pabbie easily lied. "It is impossible for me to take the powers away from your boy."

Tobias fumed at the elder troll's words. "You have to do something about it! Too many things happen on a daily basis because of that cursed magic! Look at the princesses and our baby!"

Pabbie gazed over at the screaming baby and the two unconscious little girls. There was a momentary pause, but then his face softened.

"I can't promise anything, but I might be able to help them. But that's as far as I can help any of you. I cannot and will not tamper with any magic that young Jack possesses. That would be going against the natural order of magic from higher powers. We rock trolls are bound by that law. I can help calm the baby down for sure, and I might be able to help the girls after an examination, but that is all."

Judging by the expression on Tobias's face, he was definitely not pleased to hear this, but Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun all nodded appreciatively at Pabbie's words. He might not be giving all of them a guarantee that he could help all three girls with his healing magic, but just hearing him say that he was willing to try meant everything to the three of them. Just because Tobias wasn't exactly parent of the year didn't mean that his wife and the king and queen weren't either. The three of them always put their children's wellbeing first. Always.

"Thank you! Please do whatever you can!" said Idun appreciatively.

"Let us take care of the baby first. May I?"

Kirsten slowly bent down so as to be kneeling as best as she could on one knee. Pabbie carefully inspected tiny Emma for any possible injuries, but upon discovering that the small baby was completely unharmed, he instead turned to look at Jack.

"The child appears to be fine. Why is she screaming as she is, young Jack?"

Jack bowed his head, shame washing over his whole body. "I… I scared her when I hurt Elsa and Anna. It was an accident, I swear! But she won't stop screaming!" he explained in a frenetic rush.

Pabbie only smiled kindly at the response. "It's all right. A good calming spell will soothe her, don't worry."

The humans all stared at the troll, puzzled, but before any of them could question the rock creature, the elder troll was muttering some strange incantation lowly under his breath in some type of foreign dialect. A few seconds later, the troll's stone finger glowed a dull white color, and then he gently patted Emma's face. At first, it didn't seem as though whatever Pabbie had done had worked as she continued to scream and kick her pudgy legs through her blankets while Kirsten cradled her, but a few seconds later, her baby wails slowly died away to soft mewing, and then she was completely silent. Her face was no longer full of distress and terror as thick tears streamed down her little cheeks, but it was instead forming a great, toothless smile as she laughed and waved her small fists up in the air, trying to grab hold of her mother's index finger.

Almost immediately, happy and relieved tears sprung forth from Kirsten's eyes as she snuggled her precious baby close to her chest.

"Thank you!" she gasped as she turned to look away from Emma to smile gratefully at Pabbie. "Thank you so much!"

Tobias also checked over his daughter, and a brief look of utter relief crossed his features upon seeing that she had finally calmed down and was completely unharmed, but the second that Jack tried to step forward to look and see that his little sister was indeed all right, his cold scowl spread across his face. He quickly blocked Jack off from approaching Kirsten and Emma.

"Stay back, Jackson! We don't need another accident with Emma just after she's calmed down!" he demanded.

A hurt look spread across Jack's face as he flinched away from his cold-hearted father. He hadn't been planning to touch Emma at all. He had only wanted to look at her.

Everyone else there though were not pleased with how Tobias had treated the poor boy.

"Tobias," said Agnar warningly, sounding more than a little angry with the man at this point.

Tobias forced himself to lose the scowl as he addressed the king. "With all due respect, your majesty, what I said has a valid point. How would you and your wife feel if – after both your daughters are healed – Jack gets too close and possibly hurts them again? I'd rather not take that risk with my own daughter, thank you."

There was another tense pause after that, but none of the human adults said anything further while Jack just blinked away the unshed tears gathering in his eyes after hearing what his father had just said. Whether any of them liked it or not, Tobias was technically right in a way. Although the whole mess Jack had created had simply been an accident, it went without saying that none of them wanted another incident with the boy's mysterious wintry powers to result in another trip out here to the Valley of the Living Rocks. The adults all just wished Tobias would be more understanding towards Jack with realizing that he was only a little boy and obviously never intended for any of this to happen, and Jack only wished that his father would simply be nicer to him. For as long as Jack could remember, Tobias had hated his magic. He would act kind and loving to him the way a real father should every now and then whenever Jack refrained from using his powers for a full day, but should the boy make so much as a single snowflake appear, the dark-haired man would quickly become as cold as the ice that Jack produced. What was it about his unexplainable powers that made his father hate him so much all the time?

Pabbie however didn't wish to waste time waiting for one of them to say something. Time was of the essence after all when it came to healing people who had been injured by magic, even if in this case it had been nothing more than a complete accident. He turned to face King Agnar and Queen Idun, and gestured for the two rulers to bring Elsa and Anna closer so he could examine them.

"Here, here," he said.

Agnar and Idun quickly bent down so that the elder troll could see their daughters. Pabbie ran his stone fingers through each of the princess's hair as he carefully inspected both Elsa and Anna, and took mental note of the platinum blonde streak that was in Anna's hair now and how all of Elsa's hair was of the same blonde shade rather than the chestnut brown that she had originally inherited from her mother, the queen. Everyone there, especially Jack, stood with baited breath as they waited for a verdict on the girls' conditions.

After a short period of time, Pabbie finally looked up. "You are lucky it wasn't their hearts, or even their hands," he declared. "Hearts are not so easily changed, your majesties, and the hands can create anything that seems magical with only a little bit of faith. But the heads? The heads can be persuaded."

Jack let out a deep sigh of relief he hadn't even realized he had been holding in when he heard the elder troll say that, and Queen Idun's eyes started overflowing again with tears. Happy tears, that is. King Agnar's rigid stance meanwhile instantly relaxed.

"Do what you must," he told Pabbie.

Pabbie nodded, gladdened by the news that the monarch had given him the permission he needed to restore both his daughters to health, because the troll knew that even if the adults would all understand and accept what he was going to have to do to help Elsa and Anna, Jack was definitely not going to like it.

He tapped both Elsa and Anna's temples gently with his oversized stone fingers, and when he drew his hand back, two trails of snowy magic followed his index finger, and he drew the magic away from the girls to an open space of air next to them. Jack and the adults all stared, not quite sure what was happening initially, but then the wisps of snow that Pabbie had extracted from Elsa and Anna's heads formed two identical circular windows that showed direct memories from both girls, and the memories were of the exact same thing: the two of them playing with Jack and little Emma with Jack's ice and snow magic in the castle's Great Hall.

"I recommend we remove all magic. Even memories of magic, to be safe," Pabbie explained. "There's no need for me to do the same to the little baby, though. She'll be too young to remember any of the things that transpired this evening. But don't worry. I'll leave the fun."

King Agnar, Queen Idun, Kirsten, and Tobias all nodded in agreement to Pabbie's plan, but Jack felt his stomach twist into tight knots as he watched the troll alter the precious memories of his two friends so that all occurrences of his powers were nothing more than natural things that happened while the three of them played outside during winter as he was babysitting his little sister for his parents.

The memory of Jack creating a huge snow pile with his snow powers in the Great Hall with one hand and nestling Emma with the other as he cheered for both Elsa and Anna as they slid down the mountainous pile of snow?

That was now a memory of all of them outside bundled up in warm wintry attire as Jack cradled Emma to his chest while he shouted out his praises to Elsa and Anna as they slide down a particularly large, but still natural snow pile on two identical wooden sleds.

The memory of Elsa and Anna struggling to maintain their balance with their arms stretched out on either side of them as they skated in their bedroom slippers on the makeshift ice rink in the Great Hall, whilst Jack laughed teasingly and easily skated circles around them, and giggling Emma left on the sidelines of the room momentarily?

That was now a memory of all of them skating on the frozen fjord right outside the castle while Emma had been left on the snow-covered banks as she squealed and gurgled happily at the three of them.

The memory of Jack sitting on the icy-covered floor of the Great Hall right in between Elsa and Anna, both girls happily hugging him as he cradled Emma on his lap and they all gazed, wonderstruck, at Olaf the Snowman right after they had finished playing with him?

That was now a memory of all of them sitting together in the snow at the edge of the lush forests on the outskirts of the city as they gazed at Olaf, who had apparently been built on a large snowdrift directly underneath the snow-covered branches of an enormous, frozen evergreen tree.

Overall, the changes to the memories were very nice and seemed perfectly normal with not even the slightest inclination whatsoever that Jack was anything but a completely ordinary, if only slightly mischievous servant boy that loved to play with Princess Elsa and Princess Anna, and in addition to his baby sister Emma that he adored, he was their dearest and most trusted friend.

Nothing about these memories screamed that Jackson Overland had any magical talents at all.

With a small nod of satisfaction, the troll leader gathered up the two memory windows in his hands, and seemed to set them back into Elsa and Anna's heads. Almost immediately, the still expressions on both girls' faces changed. Anna simply rolled over in her mother's arms and began to snore softly while Elsa's monotone features morphed into that of a small smile as she pleasantly dreamed on.

"They will be okay," he assured the group.

Queen Idun wept with joy. "Thank you!" she gasped between the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. "Thank you so much!"

But Jack did not share in the queen's glee. "But… But you changed their memories! They won't know the truth! They won't remember my powers now!" he exclaimed.

Kirsten quickly knelt down to Jack's level as carefully as she could since she was cradling Emma, and spoke calmly to Jack before her husband could speak up.

"Jackie, I know that this all seems unfair, but trust us! This is for the best!"

King Agnar nodded at her words. "Your mother is right, Jack. It's a good thing that Elsa and Anna won't remember any of this, and I also think that it might be a good idea if you don't use your magic around your sister anymore either. In fact, don't even let her know about your powers when she gets older."

"That goes without saying! He's not using those godforsaken ice powers of his ever again! Especially not around Emma!" Tobias snapped.

Jack felt as though he had been punched right in the stomach when he heard his father and King Agnar tell him this. He didn't doubt for even an instant that the adults were serious this time when they said that he wasn't to use his magic around the girls anymore, and he knew deep down that they were right when they told him that he needed to stop using it judging by everything that happened tonight. But at the same time, he didn't want to listen to them. His ice and snow magic brought so much joy to Elsa and Anna, and the fun times that the three of them spent together playing with his powers made breaking the rules all worthwhile in the end. Even when Emma was born and he started making snowflakes land on the tip of her nose, he knew that his powers were special. The idea of never being able to see any of them become wonderstruck by his magic ever again… the thought couldn't process in the small boy's mind.

Pabbie seemed to guess Jack's thought process just from viewing the heartbroken expression on his face, and he quickly patted his arm. He didn't want to have to crush the boy's hopes and dreams like this, especially since Jack was still only an innocent child, but Pabbie and just about every other troll in this valley watching from the sidelines knew of the great destiny that Jack had in the future. The boy might still be too young to explain everything to him at this point in time, but Pabbie could at least warn him of what his powers could do if he didn't use them properly.

Jack needed to be made aware of how powerful an enemy the very essence of fear could become.

It was the only way he would be prepared for what he would do and who he would face one day.

"Listen to me, Jackson," Pabbie began, and Jack's attention returned to him. "You're power will only grow…"

Jack watched in amazement as Pabbie turned and waved his hands over his stone head. Wisps of blue magic formed high above all of them, and the magic slowly morphed into the outlined shapes of Jack himself – only many years older – as he playfully used his ice and snow magic while surrounded by crowds of civilians watching him.

"There is beauty and fun in it…"

The real Jack couldn't help but smile as he watched the apparition of himself form snowballs out of thin air and chuck them at the phantom figures of civilians and laugh wholeheartedly when he saw his projectiles hit their targets. Even the crowds all seemed to smile and laugh as they watched the fake Jack use his magic to make a gigantic snowflake high over all of their wispy magical heads. Even in a fantasy projection, it looked as though people had fun playing with his magic. His powers made people happy, and that was all it took to make him happy in return.

"But also great danger."

The pretty blue snowflake suddenly glowed a vivid shade of bright red, and the delicate crystal designs that made up each little piece of the beautiful wintry magic suddenly turned jagged and dangerous. The real Jack down below gasped fearfully when he saw it. Before his little accident with Elsa and Anna tonight, he had never realized that his powers could be considered unsafe in any way, but seeing this fake scenario presented to him by the rock troll elder was hitting home like never before how treacherous his magic could be.

"You must learn to control it. Fear will be your enemy."

Just like the enormous snowflake, the phantom figures of crowds that were surrounding the fake Jack turned bright red, showing their anger at the spirit Jack as they mimed yelling and screaming at him while they threw ghostly apparitions of pebbles, rotten food, and even occasionally a few sharp weapons. The fake Jack, meanwhile, stayed the same shade of blue, and was doing his best to try and back away from the angry mob, clearly terrified of what he had done with the snowflake and what the masses might do to him in retaliation. But then, most mysteriously, a black shadow with menacing, glowing yellow eyes and an evil smile descended upon the figures, and seemed to swarm around the blue outline of the older Jack. While the magical figure of Jack appeared to be downright horrified at this strange shadow that had just attacked him, the frenzied mob just went ballistic at the sight of it, and started lunging toward Jack. The fake Jack let out a terrified scream, and then they all disappeared with a few swirls of magical smoke.

The real Jack gasped in utter terror when he saw this, and he quickly spun around to bury his horrified face into his mother's side. His mother didn't hesitate to adjust her grasp on Emma to support her with one arm before wrapping her now free arm around her scared little boy. Her poor son…

"I… I don't want people to be afraid of me…" he whimpered out, his words almost muffled by the fabric of Kirsten's clothes. "I don't want to hurt anyone with my powers again! Not Elsa! Not Anna! And not Emmy! Definitely not Emmy! I don't ever want to hurt Emmy!"

"Jack! Jack look at me! Look at Mommy!" Kirsten kindly pleaded. Jack didn't obey right away, but eventually he did indeed poke his head out from her side to gaze sadly up at her with slightly teary eyes. "Everything going to be okay, alright? Your father and I are going to make sure that nothing bad happens, right, Honey?"

Tobias gruffly nodded, although his words were more of a mumbling to himself rather than addressing the current situation of trying to comfort his scared son. "Don't know what we're going to do now… Gotta get new work… New house, presumably far away from anyone or anything—"

"Wait, what exactly are you saying?" Agnar cut in, matching perplexed expressions appearing on both his face and on Idun's.

Tobias blinked. "I think it's safe to say that Kirsten and I are both fired after tonight, right? After everything that happened with Jack and your daughters."

Queen Idun seemed to be completely taken aback by the Overland Patriarch's assumption. "Fire you both? We weren't planning anything of the sort!"

Tobias quickly became confused. "You weren't?"

"Agnar and I aren't happy about what happened, but Jack is only a child and this incident wasn't intentional. It was just an accident. We aren't going to punish any of you for a mere accident. And besides, you, Kirsten, are one of my dearest friends amongst the castle staff. I would never dismiss you so carelessly!"

"No, Tobias, Idun and I are not going to fire either of you. If anything, we are both going to help you," Agnar declared.

"Help us?" Kirsten repeated, puzzled.

"We can offer all of you sanctuary in the palace while Jack learns to control his powers. He can learn to control them, I'm sure. Until then… we'll lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff – excluding your family, of course – we will limit his contact with people, and keep his powers hidden from everyone. Including the girls."

The queen nodded in agreement. "Elsa, Anna, and Emma."

Kirsten and Tobias both nodded, agreeing that this was the best course of action to take in regards to Jack's uncontrollable magic, but Jack felt his heart shatter upon hearing this. He wouldn't be allowed to play with Elsa, Anna, or Emma again. Not until he learned to have better control over his magic anyway, and who knows how long that would take? Deep down, Jack knew that his parents and Elsa and Anna's parents were right, considering that he had already injured the princesses and scared his little sister to death once now, and he didn't want this to happen a second time.

But still… not to play and have fun with any of them again?

It was too much for Jack, and he buried his face back into his mother's side as he started to cry.

* * *

Hidden behind some gigantic rocks that lined the rim of the valley high up above, Pitch Black watched with great glee as the human party eventually left the Valley of the Living Rocks after the elder troll warned Jack of the danger his powers presented and the fear he could accidentally invoke in others. While Pitch was amazed at the resemblance that the boy had to that of an old enemy of his that had died many centuries beforehand, what amazed him even more were his powers, which were nothing at all like his previous enemy's powers.

Ice and snow… The boy could create ice and snow… Who was he exactly? Obviously human, as he had two human parents – even if his father did seem to hate him for his magic – but was it possible that he could only be half human? Some malevolent or even mischievous spirits were known to take on human form to trick mortals for sex. It was entirely possible that one male winter spirit had decided to take on the form of the boy's father to sleep with his mother, and that was how the boy came to be born with his unexplainable powers. But even if that was the case, why did the boy look so much like his old fallen enemy? Granted, he had brown hair and brown eyes instead of snow white hair and green eyes, but the facial features… They were so much like that of a spirit that could fight with the power of moonbeams…

Well, whatever the case, it didn't really matter all that much that Jackson Overland looked so much like his fallen foe, because there were much more important things for Pitch Black to think about, with what he had just witnessed.

When Pitch looked at Jack, he saw an opportunity.

An opportunity to be known to the world as the Nightmare King once again.

Jackson Overland was an anomaly of a whole new nature, and anomalies were known to spark fear in other normal, everyday people. There was no doubt whatsoever that the boy's father both hated him and masked his fear of his son behind his cruel nature, but the mother and the king and queen? Pitch wasn't entirely sure if they were afraid of the boy, but the three of them were definitely afraid of the thought of what his powers could do, especially now that he had accidentally hurt the princesses and scared his little sister, and he the Boogeyman could also sense that they were also afraid of what other people would think of Jack should his powers be revealed to the general public.

Yes, their fear was a good source of rejuvenation, but it paled in comparison to the one person whose fear completely towered over theirs a thousand times over.

Jack.

Pitch couldn't believe how much fear was radiating off this one boy, especially after the troll leader made it clear how dangerous his powers could become and that fear itself would be his enemy.

Well, the leader had been correct about that.

Fear would be Jackson Overland's enemy.

Pitch Black was the essence of fear itself, and he was going to use this boy to replenish his powers and recreate his once great army of Nightmares.

It might take years to get enough fear to launch another war with his grand army. Unless of course the process was sped up by Jack's fear finally spiking over, causing him to accidentally reveal to the world his powers. Pitch didn't doubt for a second that that could happen one day and if it did, people would definitely be afraid of the boy. But either way, Pitch intended to stick to this boy in the meantime, and make him twice as afraid as he already was by supplying him with terrifying nightmares in order to feed off of him.

Pitch grinned as he followed the human party back to the Arendelle castle, and watched in obvious amusement as the king and queen bid the Overlands goodnight, before leaving the family so as to take their still peacefully sleeping daughters back to bed. The boy's parents, however, returned to the servants' quarters, and Pitch stood by the sidelines as he witnessed Jack's parents move Emma's small cradle close to their bed before quietly dragging Jack's small bed far to the other side of the room. Jack was crying silently as he watched all this happen, but didn't say anything in protest, as he knew that this was the only way to keep his sister safe from him. Tomorrow, more permanent arrangements for his newly agreed on isolation would be made, but for now, this would have to do. He would just have to deal with the internal pain of feeling completely isolated from the rest of his family for not only tonight, but quite possibly the rest of his life unless he figured out how to control his powers.

When the family finally managed to put aside all the hullabaloo that had happened that night, finally allowing them to fall asleep, Pitch waited until he saw the golden, sandy tendrils of the despised Sandman's dream sand float in through a nearby window and make their way to the sleeping heads of Jack in his bed and Emma in her cradle. Pitch paid no attention to Emma's dream as he swept through the room from the corner he had been standing and waiting around in until now. Other than taking note of the fact that the infant was apparently dreaming of something akin to the smiling faces of her parents and her brother, the girl was of little interest to him as she was apparently completely ordinary.

But Jack's dream?

Now that was something that demanded his full and undivided attention.

Despite all the fear he had experienced tonight over possibly hurting the Crown Princess Elsa and the young Princess Anna, Jackson Overland's dream was of the three of them plus Emma back in the castle's Great Hall, playing with his ice and snow magic again and being enchanted by his powers. In his dream, his minor accident with his powers with Elsa and Anna never happened, and together, the three of them were taking turns holding Emma so she could join them while they ice skated across the Great Hall. They were all so happy as they played and had fun together.

All in all, it was a very sweet and happy dream.

Pitch chuckled as he watched the dream sand figures play. "My, what an adorable dream…" he quietly mused. "Such wonder… Such hope… Such a happy memory…"

His whispers echoed throughout the cramped room, but no one awoke, not even Jack. Jack dreamed on as a small smile spread across his face, completely obvious to the fact that the figure looming over him as he slept was nothing short of a monster with the evilest intentions imaginable.

The sweet and innocent expression on Jack's small face brought forth a dark chuckle from Pitch's lips. "Ah yes, such light in this boy. But with those ice powers, there's only one thing missing… A touch of fear!"

He extended his long, pale and bony finger towards the memory dream that was swirling about over young Jack's sleeping head, and gently poked the dream sand with the very tip of his finger.

Instantaneously, the golden sand that made Jack's dream light and happy turned inky black and horrifying. The black sand Jack in the dream suddenly made a great deal of ice shoot forth out of his hands quite by accident, and it struck not only Elsa and Anna on the heads this time, but little Emma as well. The black dream sand Jack was horrified by what he had done, but no matter what he did, neither the princesses nor his baby sister awoke, and this time, no one came to help him get any of the unconscious girls to the healer trolls. Young Jack's peaceful breathing turned into a scared groan as he tossed and turned back and forth in his small bed. He was clearly terrified of what he had done in his dream, and even though he was still fast asleep, tears were sprouting forth from the corners of his squeezed shut eyelids as he started sobbing in his sleep, and unconsciously his distress was causing ice and frost to slowly form on the bedsheets he was clutching tightly in his small fists close to his chest.

As Jack continued to quietly sob as his nightmare progressed, Pitch began to swirl his hands over the black sand that was still hovering over the boy's head. The black sands began to rise as they morphed from the shapes of a small boy crying and screaming over the lifeless forms of his two friends and his infant sister to that of some type of dark, gigantic black creature.

Pitch grinned as he saw the creature take shape. "Feed your fear! Come on! Come on, that's right! Yes!"

The creature eventually took up its final shape, that of a strong, healthy black Nightmare with glowing yellow eyes. Unlike the former last surviving Nightmare that Pitch had barely managed to keep alive all these years and was slowly dwindling away into a sick, gangly little thing, this Nightmare was tall and sturdy, vigorous from the fear it fed on from this one little boy.

Pitch couldn't help but be amazed. Jackson Overland's fear of hurting others with his powers was more than enough fear to produce one of the strongest Nightmares he had ever had the privilege of creating. Pitch still didn't understand why this boy resembled his old immortal enemy so much, but either way, he could still use him. This boy's newfound fear of possibly hurting other people – in particular those he held dear to his heart – might be just the thing that could bring back his army. It would take years of influencing this boy for his army of Nightmares to be at a good enough size, especially because he would only be able to create one Nightmare stallion per night with the boy, not counting the obvious nights where he would have to force himself to leave the boy alone so he could sleep easily and unknowingly recuperate from the strain of having his pleasant dreams turn into terrifying Nightmares. While Pitch thrived on making children afraid, he also knew that making them afraid all the time on a nightly basis made them ill and weak.

No, he would have to take his time with grooming Jackson Overland into the most scared little mouse he could. It might take years for that to happen, but that meant little to Pitch Black. The Boogeyman was immortal, so he had all the time in the world to rebuild his army with Jack's fear, but more importantly, the boy's powers were only just becoming dangerous. If he, the Boogeyman, could continue to supply this boy with more and more fear of himself with the worst Nightmares imaginable over the next few years, there was no doubt whatsoever that one day, the boy would snap. It didn't matter how hard the stupid king and queen or his idiotic parents – primarily the boy's father – tried to hide his powers. Magic was something completely unpredictable and was not meant to be contained or hidden away. One day, this boy was going to break from the pressure of both keeping his powers unnaturally contained and keeping him hidden away from other people – especially if those people were children his own age and his own little sister. Since Pitch thrived on making children miserable, he knew firsthand how it broke any child to have no friends and were not loved by their families. These adults were fools. Separating this boy from his two friends and his infant sister was a recipe for disaster. Still though, he wasn't complaining. This was good news for him, after all.

Patience was a virtue. Being patient with this boy's fear would be his ticket to being believed in again by not only children, but maybe even adults in the human world, too.

* * *

Back in the Valley of the Living Rocks, Pabbie was enduring his own troubles.

Primarily from his daughter Bulda.

His daughter had introduced the little orphaned human boy and his pet reindeer that she had found lost and wandering around the edge of their home in the rock valley to everyone and put them to bed in a hurriedly made bed of moss with soft grasses and leaves. None of that had been problematic, however after putting them to bed she had come to him and began demanding why he told Jack and the other humans what he did.

"You all but condemned that little boy to solitary confinement back there, Father," she snapped. "He's a child. He deserves playtime and friendship just like any other boy his age. Between the king and queen worry about the safety of their daughters, _and_ keeping Jack's ice powers a secret from the rest of the world to avoid a panic from the mass population, _and_ his parents worrying over Jack's magic potentially causing the entire family to be dismissed from the castle or him accidentally injuring his sister – I truly believe that they're all going to go too far with trying to keep his powers secret! I wouldn't be surprised if that little boy becomes all but afraid of himself from now on between the accident tonight and hearing what you told him about fear being his enemy!"

"First of all, Bulda, I do not believe that the adults are going to put Jack into solitary confinement. While I do not like the way that his father spoke to him, I can tell that his mother and the king and queen are all reasonable people that at the end of the day want to do what is best for him as well as make sure he is safe to be around other people. They may take more precautions with him from now on after tonight, but I do not think that they will make Jack even more afraid of himself than he already is. Secondly, what I told Jack was nothing short of the truth. Fear _will_ be his enemy later in life. You know that just as well as I do."

"But you influenced him into thinking that, Father! The Man in the Moon has great plans for that boy, but they can't be carried out if he's forewarned about his future enemy and Manny's test!"

Pabbie merely shook his head at those words. "My warning was vague, Bulda. Neither Jack nor any of the adults back there realized just who I was referring to exactly when I told him that. And anyway, even though we trolls are forbidden from directly telling that boy about his future destiny, don't you think that it's a good idea for him to try and have extra motivation to learn to control his powers? Right now, his ice and snow magic is very unstable. He has yet to discover his center. We can't tell Manny that he is ready to be tested until he has a firmer grip on his powers."

Bulda sighed. "Let's say that you're right, Father. Let's say we give it a few years to give Jack a chance to try to learn how to control his magic. What if he doesn't find his center? No one back in the capitol city has any idea how to control magic, so that's a definite possibility. If that boy doesn't learn what his center is and how to use his powers properly in the next few years… It's going to be pandemonium! I don't even want to think about what might happen to the entire kingdom should that boy lose control before he is tested!"

Pabbie was silent for a moment. In this instance, his daughter was unfortunately correct. Repressed magic could be a very dangerous thing indeed.

"If something should happen, the Guardians will undoubtedly come to help correct things," the elder troll said finally. "We know that they will always be around to protect the children of the world from any threat, and should something else accidentally happen with Jack, they will naturally come to restore the balance of children's wonder, hopes, memories, and dreams. Either way, I think that Jack deserves a life before he is tested."

"A life?"

"Yes, Bulda, a life. Did you not see him properly before? He is only a little boy right now. A little boy that made a mistake and was clearly terrified and sorry about what he had done to his two friends and for scaring his little sister. He needs to grow up a bit more. Let him be around the princesses and his sister, and know the love of his parents and be guided by the good King Agnar and Queen Idun. Let him live a normal life before we send word to the Man in the Moon that the boy is finally ready to be tested."

Bulda considered her father's wise words for a moment, but then at last nodded. "I suppose you have a point Father, and I know that your reasoning makes total sense… but are you one hundred percent sure that this is the right choice? I just… I just have this feeling deep down that not telling Manny about Jack now is a terrible idea…"

"Do not worry, Bulda. The Man in the Moon will watch over the boy until it's time. Jack will be just fine. I know he will."


	2. The Years of Isolation

**Here it is everyone! Chapter two of my new story! This chapter literally wrote itself what with how fast I managed to carve it out, and I sincerely hope that you all enjoy it! And I'm also shocked by how long it is. When I outlined the entire story, I never anticipated that this chapter would end up being as long it turned out to be. It just goes to show just descriptive I am when I write, I suppose. Well either way, I hope that all of you, my dear readers, will still keep reading this story.**

 **This chapter was half done already when I posted chapter one, as I was waiting for Silken Danser to beta chapter one before I posted it. However, I am waiting for Silken to get back to me about betaing chapter two, but I am posting chapter ahead anyway without it being critiqued. Once she gives me her revisions, I'll upload this chapter again.**

 **Also, I have not even started on chapter three yet, and since college starts up for me again next week... I'm going to be honest here and say that all of you might be waiting for awhile to read chapter three. As for how long you will be waiting... I don't know. But I'll try not to forget about this story as I juggle it alongside college!**

 **In other news, I'm so happy to have received four reviews for chapter one! Positive reviews keep me motivated to write after all! I'd like to take this time to thank all those who took the time to review chapter one of The Winter Servant:**

 **\- ZabuzasGirl**

 **\- Guest (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- XYZArtemis**

 **Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts and statements saying that my prompt for the story is interesting! I hope you will all keep reading! ;)**

 **Please note: I do not own the movies _Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled,_ or _How to Train Your Dragon._ _Frozen, Brave,_ and _Tangled_ belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and _Rise of the Guardians_ and _How To Train Your Dragon_ both belong to Dreamworks Animation. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Don't forget to leave a nice review when you're done reading! Reviews keep my creative juices flowing for this story! :)**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 1/18/17, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The Years of Isolation**

There was a loud thump from the sound of a knuckle rapping repeatedly on the wood that made up the bedroom door of the two princesses of Arendelle.

"Princess Elsa? Princess Anna? It is time to get up!"

Elsa's eyelids fluttered a bit as she turned over in her bed to avoid the harsh sunlight pouring in from hers and Anna's large bedroom window, and also tried to ignore the knocks on the door that were undoubtedly from the castle servant, Gerda. While the Crown Princess of Arendelle was much more ladylike than her younger sister, and did everything she could to be a good heir to the throne one day for her parents King Agnar and Queen Idun, the one thing that Elsa hated more than anything were the early morning wake up calls her mother scheduled every day with the servants. And for some strange reason, Elsa felt even more tired than she usually did whenever she first awoke. It was rather odd that she felt so tired. She and Anna had been sent to bed by their parents at their normal bedtime of eight o'clock and they both fell right asleep, and stayed that way all night… didn't they?

Elsa felt drained. She felt almost like how she usually did whenever she and Anna snuck out of bed some nights when Jack invited them to come and play with him. Those days had been rather few lately, ever since their friend had become a big brother, but still, why did she feel so tired it was as though she had been awake for over half the night?

Jack didn't come to play with them last night… right?

Her mind felt fuzzy. Part of her was absolutely certain that she and Anna had stayed in their bedroom all night last night, but another small part of her couldn't help but feel as though she was forgetting something. Something very important. But what was it?

Another knock on the door interrupted her internal musing.

"Princess Elsa? Princess Anna? Are you both awake yet?"

Elsa yawned and rubbed her eyes with her small hand as she slowly sat up in bed. "I'm awake, Gerda. I'll wake up Anna, don't worry," she called out sleepily.

"Very good, Princess. Your parents are expecting you both in the dining room for breakfast."

"Thank you, Gerda. We'll be out soon."

Upon hearing the sound of light footfalls strolling down the hall away from the door, Elsa tiredly ran her fingers through her hair as she swung her legs out of her enormous bed and stood up. But then, the little princess felt a small shock run through her body as she happened to catch sight of a few strands of her hair still tangled in between her fingers.

Platinum blonde hair.

 _Blonde_ hair.

Not chestnut brown hair.

Wasn't her hair supposed to be brown? Just like Elsa's internal confliction over wondering whether or not she and Anna had been up all night, she was now completely befuddled by something that shouldn't ever be such a confusing thing for her. The color of her hair. Her very appearance. Hair was such a natural part of her body that other than combing and styling it into her signature French braid, Elsa never really thought twice about her hair. She was still too young to truly appreciate various hairstyles, after all. But still, she didn't understand why she could be confused as to why her hair was one color and not another. She was a platinum blonde rather than a brunette. She still felt a little muddled, as though something in her mind was fighting against the memories of herself growing up with blonde hair, but then she shook her head to brush those ideas aside. It didn't really matter in the end whether or not she was a platinum blonde or a brunette. She was still Elsa at the end of the day. Crown Princess of Arendelle and older sister to the second-born princess, Princess Anna. She was still herself in the end.

And besides, even if she had been momentarily confused as to something as simple as the color of her hair, it wasn't like she had forgotten anything truly important.

Resolving herself to forget all about her sleepy confusion, Elsa padded her way up to her younger sister's bed and stared at the small body sprawled out across the covers, only to start quietly giggling as she noticed her sister's appearance.

Anna's appearance every morning while still asleep was a constant source of amusement for Elsa. Just like always, Anna's entire body was spread out on the bedspread with her limbs in every direction as she lay on her stomach. A thick trail of drool dribbled out of her mouth and onto her satin pillow, and her hair was in a complete disarray. Her sister's beautiful strawberry-blonde hair seemed to form that of one huge mop of tangled knots gathered near the very top of her head, making her look all the more silly and absurd.

Elsa giggled a bit before leaning over her younger sister's body to try and shake her awake. It would take long enough to get Anna's hair untangled from that great big mess. The sooner she woke her sister up and brushed out the huge knots in her hair, the sooner they could both join their parents for breakfast.

"C'mon, Anna! Wake up!"

Anna groaned a bit before groggily turning over and opening her small blue eyes.

"Hmm…? Yeah, Elsa?" she groaned tiredly.

Elsa stifled a giggle when she finally got a good look at her little sister. Her thick mop of hair was more tangled up than usual this morning, looking more like a wild bird's nest rather than hair at the moment. Elsa thought that she had seen the worst case of Anna's bedhead a year ago, when the small girl once decided to sneak inside the royal vault to steal a crown and play dress up in the middle of the night without telling either her big sister or their mutual servant friend, and then fell asleep while wearing the small tiara. When she woke up the next day, her strands of hair had been horribly tangled into the intricately detailed gold headpiece, and although she had been scolded by their parents, it took hours for Gerda and Jack's mother Kirsten to carefully untangle the mess, occasionally snipping away the worst of the knots of hair that were too painful for Anna to bear while they worked on getting the crown out. Jack had found the entire situation to be downright hilarious and had playfully teased Anna about the incident for at least a month afterwards, and though Elsa hadn't been pleased with him for making fun of her only little sister, even she had to admit that Anna's predicament had been rather funny.

Now though, seeing Anna's hair look so unruly after a natural sleep, Elsa had trouble keeping a neutral composure.

But then, Elsa noticed that Anna's eyes were starting to droop again, and she hurriedly shook her shoulder to keep the girl awake.

"Don't fall back asleep, Anna. Gerda came. She says Mama and Papa are expecting us for breakfast."

"Oh, okay…" the little five-year-old mumbled. But then she sunk back down onto the pillows and closed her eyes again. "Tell me later…"

Elsa sighed. Waking up Anna in the morning was like trying to talk to a wall. All but impossible. Anna could sleep like the dead, and anything said to her would go in one ear and out the other. Well, all but one thing, that is. And that was really the only thing that could get her awake most mornings.

"Well, okay then, Anna. I suppose I'll just have to ask Papa if he doesn't mind just the two of us going to the village to get some delicious _chocolates…"_

For good measure, Elsa casually strolled away from Anna's bed to go over to her dresser and get ready for the day.

Three…

Two…

One…

" _Chocolate?!"_

Bingo.

Within seconds, the youngest Arendelle princess was sitting upright in her bed, her eyes wide and awake as she gazed excitedly at her big sister and an eager smile on her small round face.

Elsa giggled. The promise of chocolate could bribe Anna to do anything. It even worked on her whenever her parents needed her to work harder in her princess lessons.

"Well, no guarantees, Anna, because Papa never promised to take us with him into town today, but we can try begging him later! The chocolates that that vendor gets imported from the other kingdoms are so good!"

"Yeah! Let's ask Mama and Papa if we can all go together at breakfast! We can even invite Jack, and he can bring Emma, too!"

"Sounds good. Let's get dressed, 'kay?"

"Yep! Oh, but could you brush my hair? I love it when you brush it!"

"Of course, Anna. Go get the hairbrush."

Anna hurriedly scrambled out of her bed and all but dashed across the expanse of their enormously large bedroom to go and get the hairbrush off the dark wooded surface of the small, child-sized vanity table against one wall, and then planted herself down in the small cushioned seat in front of it before looking pleadingly back over to Elsa as she stuck out her lower lip, silently begging her to come over and brush her hair like she promised.

Elsa just shook her head a bit in amusement as she stepped over to the vanity table, took the brush from Anna's hand, and began running the semi-soft bristles through her sister's messy hair. "You're so silly, Anna."

"Maybe. But I'm still your silly little sister!"

Elsa initially laughed at that, but then she caught sight of something in her sister's hair that she nearly overlooked because of how hidden away it was in the tangled knots of strawberry-blonde locks.

A single streak of white-blonde tresses.

Just like her own hair.

"What's this?" she questioned, her unease and confusion mounting upon seeing this unknown strand of hair on her little sister's head.

"What's what, Elsa?"

"This. These strands of white hair," she explained, even managing to separate the few locks of white tresses away from the rest of the mops of tangled red to hold it up so Anna could get a clear look in the round mirror in front of them. "I don't remember this being here before…"

Immediately, Anna turned around in her seat to give her a quizzical look. "What are you talking about, Elsa? I've always had this in my hair!"

"What? What are you talking about? I… I'm pretty sure I've never seen this white hair on you before, Anna. Just like I don't really remember being a blonde before now…"

Now the five-year-old looked at her older sister like she was crazy. "Are you still half asleep, Elsa? I've had this white strand in my hair for as long as I can remember! And you've always been a blonde! I wish I had your blonde hair! You've always looked so pretty!"

Elsa's head was reeling. Was she going crazy? Anna claimed that the streak of white in her hair was something she had always had and that she, the big sister, had been a platinum blonde all her life. Part of her was telling her that something was seriously wrong, but the other part of her was saying that everything was perfectly fine as she dug through the memories of the two of them growing up. Elsa's mind buzzed as she thought about herself and Anna, and the more she thought of it, the more she felt both confused, but still eased at the same time. There were indeed many memories of looking at her sister and seeing that one white streak amongst the rest of her strawberry-blonde tresses, and even when she recalled instances when she looked at her reflection in a mirror, she really did always have platinum blonde hair of her own.

But still, why did all this seem so terribly wrong?

* * *

As soon as Elsa and Anna had finished brushing each other's hair and had dressed in their favorite dresses of blue and green with rosemaling embroidery on the skirts and bodices, they both hurried out of their bedroom and laughed as they raced each other down the many halls of the Arendelle castle.

It was another beautiful, perfect day in the Norwegian castle.

As soon as they were done with breakfast, the two of them would beg their parents to take them out to the village for one of their family outings.

With permission, they would invite Jack to come along as well and even bring sweet little Emma.

They would eat chocolates and pastries, have their parents buy them new books or toys from the local street vendors, and play tag, hopscotch, or hide and seek with Jack and the other village children.

It was going to be a great day!

…Or at least, that was what the girls thought.

The little princesses had just gone down the grand staircase to reach the second floor, where the private dining room used the by the royal family whenever they didn't have castle guests was located, when they came across a strange sight. Many of the castle servants were plodding out of the corridor off to the side that led to the servants' quarters, and they had their few or many possessions packed up in large bundles which they were either dragging behind them or had slung over their shoulders as they too headed towards the grand staircase. They were all going down to the first floor.

Quite a few of these castle servants turned to nod and smile sadly at Elsa and Anna as they walked past, but had to stop themselves from doing a double-take when they got a good look at the royal princesses. They had been given strict orders from the king and queen themselves not to gawk at Elsa or Anna should they happen across them, and under no circumstances were they allowed to ask either of the girls about the change in their hair colors. They were to ignore any changes to either of the girls' hair and in fact act as though there was no change at all. Should any servant in the castle make so much as the smallest inquiry about the silver streak in Anna's hair or ask why all of Elsa's hair was now platinum blonde, there would be dire consequences.

Elsa and Anna were all but oblivious to the looks that the servants were shooting each other in regards to seeing their hair, however.

No, they were too preoccupied with the fact that over half the servants in the castle looked as though they had all seemingly decided to go on a trip together.

"Hey! What's going on?" Anna called out curiously to a lady in her mid to late forties. "Where are you all going? Why do you have all your stuff with you?"

The woman paused in mid-step upon hearing Anna's words, and then reluctantly turned to give both her and Elsa a sorrowful smile.

"We've all been dismissed from the palace staff, Princess," she explained. "As we are all no longer employed here, we are required to leave."

Elsa's eyes went wide. "Mama and Papa fired all of you?" she gasped. "But why?"

"No one really knows," she replied. "We all just woke up this morning ready to work as usual when your parents came before us saying that they had decided to reduce the staff. We all must be gone by lunchtime, before they lock the gates."

"Gates? What gates?" Anna asked curiously.

"The castle gates, Princess Anna. Your parents declared that they've decided to essentially isolate the castle from the general public until further notice."

This time, Elsa and Anna stood there in shock for a short time. Then they both exchanged looks of complete incredulity before snapping their heads back to the woman.

"What?! Why?!"

"This doesn't make any sense! Mama and Papa… they love the common people!"

The woman nodded sadly. "I know. It's quite a mystery, I suppose. No one knows why they have suddenly decided to do this. I best suggest you go and ask your parents yourselves, Princess Elsa, Princess Anna. I'm sure they must have a good reason."

Anna nodded sadly, but Elsa's attention had shifted to that of the faces of the servants that were still filing down the stairs.

"You wouldn't happen to know if the Overlands were fired, too?" she asked. "We don't want Jack to go! He's our friend!"

"The Overlands? Can't say I know if they were lucky enough to stay. They've all been keeping to themselves all morning. Acting pretty quiet…"

Anna gasped fearfully, but Elsa quickly grabbed her hand and gave her a hopeful smile.

"Don't worry, Anna. We'll go and ask Mama and Papa about all this. Especially about Jack! They wouldn't dare send away our only friend here in the castle!"

Anna nodded. "Okay, Elsa. Goodbye, ma'am! Thank you for your help!"

And with that, the Arendelle princesses waved goodbye to the nice woman and continued down the hall to find their parents. As they walked, they noticed more strange happenings going on with the servants that had been lucky enough to still stay employed. Most of them were closing off any open window and were making sure that they remained securely shut, while others were firmly closing and even locking the doors that led off to small verandas that overlooked the village and the fjord.

But the strangest occurrence was the fact that Kai and a few other strong male servants were hurrying to cover up the beautiful painting that depicted the two of them with their parents and carefully remove it from the wall.

Elsa and Anna's mouths both dropped.

They were removing the official painting of the current royal family.

For the longest time, neither Elsa nor Anna could find the words to speak. They just stared in complete shock as they watched Kai and the other men struggle to deal with the enormous oil painting in the heavy gold frame, and carry it away down the hall. To where, neither of the girls knew, but both Elsa and Anna realized that something big had to be happening if the painting of their family was being removed from its rightful place on the castle walls.

"Elsa…"

"S-Stay calm, Anna. I'm… I'm sure there's a good reason for all this. Let's go and talk to Mama and Papa. They're still waiting for us in the dining room."

Sure enough, Agnar and Idun were both sitting at the table as they waited for them to arrive, talking in hushed, nervous whispers about something as though afraid that someone might overhear them, but their heads snapped up the moment Elsa and Anna appeared in the room.

"Elsa! Anna! My darlings!" the queen exclaimed with joy. Before Elsa or Anna could blink, their mother had risen from her chair and hurried across the room to engulf the two of them in a warm, but still strong hug that expressed all the love that Idun felt for the two of them.

She was quickly joined by her husband, the king. Agnar crossed the room in lengthy strides, and didn't hesitate for even an instant to bend down to his two daughters' level near the ground to join their mother in hugging them tightly.

"My sweet little girls…" he whispered.

Both girls were rather taken aback by this sudden, unexpected display of affection. It wasn't as though they were starved for love. Their parents showered them with hugs and kisses and promises of how much they loved them at every opportunity and never once in the past had Elsa or Anna doubted their affections, but this had never happened before, them hugging them both so tight with looks of such relief and love on their faces. They hadn't even had breakfast yet and still their small heads were reeling. What other strange occurrences were going to happen to them before they left the room?

"Mama…? Papa…?" Elsa whispered, still feeling completely bewildered.

Upon hearing the confusion in their eldest daughter's voice, the king and queen reluctantly relinquished their holds on their two perfect little girls and instead looked them both right in the eye, making sure to keep their happy smiles plastered to their faces.

"What? Can't parents be happy to see their children?" Agnar asked, his lips still beaming, but his eyes betraying nothing as to what he might be thinking.

"We love you girls more than life itself! Now, come, come! Breakfast awaits!" said Idun, making sure to only tighten the grips she had around both of her sweet little girls.

Elsa and Anna were still thoroughly baffled, but they allowed themselves to be led over to the long, beautifully crafted mahogany table and ushered into their usual seats beside their parents, with their father sitting at the head of the table with their mother to his left, and Elsa and Anna sitting next to each other on Agnar's other side. As soon as they were all settled, their father raised his hand, signaling for the servants to finally come in. The servants did so with their trays laden with dishes that gave off delicious aromas, and each of them set the food down in the center of the table for the small family of four to help themselves to, and after pausing for a moment to fill their cups with coffee for the parents and orange juice for the girls, they bowed respectfully to the monarchs of their small kingdom before quietly taking their leave from the room.

Idun helped Anna to gather hearty helpings of food from the dishes presented before all of them before following Agnar's and Elsa's example of serving herself, but as soon as they all started eating, the princesses began jabbering away their questions.

"Mama, Papa? Why are most of the servants leaving?"

"And one of the servants mentioned that you're locking the castle gates! Why're you doing that?"

"Does that mean we can't go with you into the village today to play and have sweets?"

Agnar and Idun both made sure to eat a few more helpings of the food on their plates and swallow some of the coffee in each of their cups before answering their daughters. The king and queen had rehearsed what they intended to tell their daughters about all the unexpected overnight changes in the castle for several hours before they finally managed to fall asleep last night, and the sooner that they told the girls that things would be changing in the palace from now on, the sooner they could all go about their lives pretending that the horrifying reality of their two sweet daughters almost being lost to them last night had never in fact happened.

"Sweethearts, the gates are being closed because you girls are getting older," Queen Idun explained. "Your father and I have decided that it's in the best interest of both of you to limit your public exposure to both the village and other neighboring countries, at least until you've both grown up a bit and are respectable young ladies. I doubt either of you fully understand this, but neither of you realize just how judgmental other nations can be towards the children of country leaders, and you girls are the future of Arendelle."

Elsa was thoroughly confused, and judging by the face that Anna was making, she could rightfully assume that she was, too.

"What?"

"Elsa, I'm sure this must be confusing for you and Anna, but trust me. This is for the best," Agnar said kindly. "By closing off the castle, you girls will be able to grow up in a stable family environment and with privacy from the nobility of other countries that might want to try and cause problems for any of us. You in particular, Elsa, are going to be queen one day if your mother and I never end up having a son. And Anna? You might never rule, but second-born princesses are just as important to the country as any Crown Prince or Princess."

Idun nodded as she smiled sweetly at her youngest daughter. "Your father's right, Anna. Why, you could end up marrying another prince from another country one day! Or perhaps a duke or a high-born lord! Maybe even a count! Your education for when that happens will be just as important as Elsa's is. With the gates closed, you girls can learn all the skills you will need to serve the country without having your actions scrutinized so carefully by the public eye."

Anna scrunched up her little nose. "What does 'screwy nize' mean?" she piped.

"It's pronounced, 'scru-ti-nize,' Anna, and it means that people won't be watching you girls so carefully," said their father.

"Oh… but we can still go and play every once in a while in the village, right? We love to go with you to get pastries and toys from the vendors!"

There was a pause, but their parents just gave Anna a strained smile.

"I'm sorry, Anna… but we aren't even intending to go down to the village during this time, which means that you and Elsa won't be going, either," Idun told her.

A look of pure devastation rapidly spread across Anna's face. "Oh, please, Mama, Papa?" she begged. "We'll be good girls! Right, Elsa?"

"Yes, we promise we'll be good!" Elsa said pleadingly. "We love playing in the village with the other children! Can't we go down just one last time and have one last pastry or chocolate?"

"That's out of the question, Elsa," said Agnar sadly, but still rather firmly. "The gates being closed today would mean nothing if we all went down to the village one last time. But I promise you girls that this doesn't mean that you won't get chocolates or pastries anymore. We can have the servants go and get some for all of us to enjoy every now and then, or even have them baked here in the castle every once in a while. Homemade treats are always the best, after all!"

Anna pouted her lower lip and looked depressed, but Elsa was still very confused. Something just wasn't adding up in all of this…

"But what about all the servants, Mama, Papa? You never answered me about that. Why are so many of them leaving?" she asked.

"And why are Kai and the others taking down the painting of all of us? I like that painting!"

"Well, with the gates being closed, we won't be needing as many servants in the castle from now on," their mother explained. "It's for the best that they go and look for fulfilling jobs elsewhere."

"As for our family painting… that was accidentally damaged by some servants preparing to leave the castle," their father readily stated. "They knocked into it by mistake and ended up ripping the canvas. We'll have to have a new one commissioned of the four of us soon as a replacement."

Anna immediately looked annoyed. "Do we have to, Papa? I hated sitting still for so long when that stuffy old man painted us!"

Idun laughed. "It's important for there to be a reference of you girls with us at a young age, Anna. We're sorry to make you girls sit or stand still for so long, but it's necessary."

Anna pouted, but Elsa just continued to question their parents.

"Please tell me you didn't send away Jack and his family with the servants you fired! Jack's our friend, Mama, Papa! He and Emma! She's gonna be a great friend when she gets bigger! They're still here, right?"

Almost at once, Agnar and Idun's warm, genuine smiles became very rigid and fixed. Anna didn't notice, but Elsa certainly did.

"No, Elsa. Jack and his family are still here," said Idun, turning away from her eldest daughter so as to daintily cut up the food on her plate. "I wouldn't recommend going to see him today, though."

"How come?"

"The Overlands are moving to another servant's quarter today," said Agnar. "With half of the staff gone, there's more than enough room for those still employed to have their own private living space, especially for those in families. He'll be very busy today moving spaces and getting settled in, so I suggest you girls leave him be for now."

Anna shrugged at their explanation, but Elsa felt rather uneasy. Her parents were acting too dismissive in regards to Jack and his family. He and his family might only be castle servants, but they were still some of the most loyal servants in the entire castle, excluding Gerda and Kai. Jack was one of her and Anna's very best friends, and his mother Kirsten was one of her mother's most trusted ladies in waiting.

No, something very strange had to be going on.

It would only alert her parents as to what she was thinking if she said any of this though, so she dropped the issue, secretly vowing to herself to drag Anna with her when she went to go and see Jack later. She would get to the bottom of this if it was the very last thing she did.

Instead, she asked the last prominent question that was rattling around inside her head.

"Just one last question, Mama, Papa. This might sound silly, but… but do you think it's odd that I have blonde hair?"

Anna was too busy shoveling food in her mouth with her silver fork to notice how their parents all but froze at her innocent question.

"Beg your pardon, Sweetheart?" said Idun slowly, struggling to keep a neutral expression on her face.

"My hair. I don't know why but… but I woke up this morning and felt like I was supposed to have brown hair just like you, Mama. Instead, I have blonde hair. And Anna has that white streak in hers. Is that weird?"

Anna giggled as she swallowed the food in her mouth. "Elsa's acting silly! I told her that she's always had that hair color and I had this white bit, but she doesn't believe me! Isn't that silly?"

For the longest time, neither Agnar nor Idun answered their daughters. They just stared at one another silently and with unreadable expressions on their faces. Anna paid no mind to any of this, but Elsa did. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but that was when her father turned to her.

"Anna's right, Elsa. That's very silly. You must have had a very vivid dream last night."

"Indeed! You being a brunette like me? That would be a dream! But no matter. You were born with your beautiful white-blonde hair. It makes you unique, Elsa. Never doubt that! You are perfect just the way you are! And Anna's little tuft of white makes her just as special!"

"But Mama—"

"Your food will get cold, Elsa. Eat up," Agnar said shortly.

It was clear to the eldest of the Arendelle princesses that the discussion was obviously over. She knew better than to argue, though, and slowly picked up her fork and began to eat, doing her best to ignore the nagging sensation in her heart that told her to try and press her parents for details as to why they didn't seem to want to talk about her hair or Anna's.

There was a little more chatter at the table as Anna prattled on about the imaginary stories she sometimes made up with her toy puppets that had been designed to look just like herself and Elsa, to which Elsa, Idun, and Agnar listened to and made comments about as they ate breakfast. Their parents seemed to encourage the topic to continue at points when it seemed like Anna was winding down from telling them all about her stories. It seemed to be a safe topic for them, Elsa realized. Jack and their hair were obviously worrisome points for them, even if Anna thought nothing of it, but other things that seemed perfectly normal meant nothing to her mother and father.

There only could be two logical explanations.

One, she had suddenly gone crazy since everyone else at the table said she was overthinking things.

Or two, her parents were hiding something and although Anna was gullible enough to believe them, she was older and therefore smarter and could tell that something was wrong.

When their plates were finally cleared and the servants had taken away the empty dishes, Elsa climbed down from her chair first and then moved to help Anna climb down as well.

"We're going to go play now, Mama, Papa," she said politely.

"All right, have fun, girls," said their mother kindly.

"Meet us back here for lunch later," their father ordered, nodding in accordance to his eldest child's words.

The girls left the dining room, but as soon as the door closed, Elsa motioned for Anna to follow her before setting off down the hall with great purpose in each of her steps.

Anna obediently trailed after her big sister, but that didn't stop the words from pouring out of her mouth. Words of great puzzlement indeed.

"In something wrong, Elsa? Where are we going?"

"To go find Jack."

Anna blinked at her. "But didn't Mama and Papa say that we ought to leave Jack alone today?"

"If he's really busy, we'll leave him be for today. But maybe Mama and Papa were exaggerating. He and his parents might be finished moving or could be done soon. We'll just ask him if he wants to play later, okay?"

"'Kay!" said the strawberry-blonde with an excited smile.

They turned the corner together and strolled up to the door that led to the servants' bunks that they knew Jack and the rest of his family had occupied before, but as neither of them knew where their friend and his family might be living now, they needed some directions to his new room in order to find him. Anna knocked politely, and she and Elsa smiled brightly when they saw Gerda open the door.

"Oh, Princess Elsa! Princess Anna! How lovely to see you girls again this morning!"

"Hi, Gerda! Can you tell us where Jack's family is moving?" asked Anna.

"The Overland family? Hm, let's see… Ah! If I remember correctly, I believe they're all moving to a room at the other end of the hall. Rather isolated from the rest of the servants, in my opinion, but I guess your parents gave them that room because of the new baby. Now they can all have their own room."

Elsa blinked, surprised to hear that last bit. "There's more than just one room for all of them to share?" she asked. Servants that had their own personal rooms with families usually used up a single, small suite that had only one or two bedrooms. The fact Gerda had revealed to them that there would be a bedroom for Kirsten and Tobias to share in addition to Jack and Emma getting rooms of their own was very unexpected.

Gerda nodded. "Yes, but if you ask me, their larger and somewhat secluded apartments are the least strange thing going on in this castle today. The King and Queen suddenly deciding to close off the castle and fire most of the staff? It's all very mysterious…"

Both girls nodded. The loyal castle staff member was right about that. Jack's family moving to a larger, more out-of-the-way room was probably the least extraordinary thing happening this morning compared to everything else that was going on right now.

Elsa and Anna politely thanked Gerda for the directions and bade her farewell before departing down the hall again.

"Hey, Elsa? I know we're princesses and all, but do you think that if we help Jack's family move their stuff, they'll get done sooner and Jack can play with us?"

"Maybe. We can try offering our help, if nothing more. Jack's mama and papa may not let us help because we're royal, but we can at least stay and chat with him. I'm sure he'll be busy setting up his toys and keeping Emma entertained. He'll be happy to see us! I'm sure of it!"

Anna giggled, and started to skip happily upon hearing her big sister say that. Elsa smiled. Her little sister was so happy-go-lucky all the time that it in turn made her smile, too.

They eventually spied Jack's parents at the end of the hall near a wide open, plain white-painted door. Their few bundles of personal items and clothing were lying neatly beside the open door, but neither Kirsten nor Tobias was paying them any attention at this time. Their focus was solely on how much the two of them were struggling to carry little Emma's baby crib through the door and into the living space, presumably to set it up in her new room. Speaking of Emma, she was safely wrapped up in some clean blankets beside the piles of bundles, but the little baby was struggling to free herself from her confines so she could crawl over to Jack, who was standing a few feet off to the right of her. He was dressed in a simple long-sleeved blue shirt and black pants, as he was not yet of proper age to start training to be one of the loyal servants in the castle like that of his parents, and surprisingly enough, he was actually wearing a pair of shoes for once and not shuffling his feet around in an obvious sign of trying to kick them off. He simply stood there and waited patiently for their parents to finish bringing in their stuff so he could go inside and claim his new bedroom.

Normally, if Jack saw that his little sister wanted to come to him, he wouldn't have hesitated for even a second to scoop her up and tickle her tummy so she would smile and laugh.

But not right now.

No, if anything, Jack seemed to be ignoring his infant baby sister.

Despite little Emma's baby squealing and cheerful giggling as she waved her tiny fists in Jack's general direction, Jack didn't so much as look at the happy little girl. He had his eyes firmly planted at some unknown point on the wall opposite him, and he kept his lips tightly pressed together to keep a rather forced, neutral expression on his face. His hands were scrunched up into shaking balls, and he kept them fixed resolutely at his sides as he stood there, looking almost as rigid as one of the many suits of armor that lined the numerous hallways in the grand castle.

Jack's all but cold and stoic behavior was so out of character that Elsa and Anna stopped short as they stared at him from a distance. He hadn't noticed them yet and neither had his parents, so the princesses had a few precious seconds to try and gather their thoughts as to what could have happened to their friend to make him ignore his little sister like this.

"Why's Jack ignoring Emma, Elsa?" Anna whispered.

Elsa just shook her head disbelievingly in reply. "I… I don't know, Anna," she whispered back. "Maybe he's in a bad mood?"

"Ah! That's probably it! Jack's probably mad that he doesn't get to sleep right next to Emma anymore! C'mon! Let's go cheer him up!"

"Sure, that sounds like a good idea."

And with that, the princesses smiled happily as they crossed the last bits of the hallway to reach their unusually quiet friend.

* * *

 _Don't look at Emma._

 _Don't look at Emma._

 _Don't look at Emma._

These four simple words were mentally being repeated over and over again in young Jackson Overland's mind. He struggled to listen to his little mantra as he did his best to resist the urge to sneak a peek out of the corner of his eye to gaze over at his sweet little sister while his parents moved all their stuff into their new compartments. To do so much as look at Emma would make his resolve waver though, and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going over to scoop her up in his arms and tickle her little tummy until she giggled and smiled.

He couldn't do that anymore.

Not until he got his ice powers under control.

It took everything in the small boy's power to hold back his tears and keep his hands safely clenched up into tight fists as he avoided looking at Emma. Not even the fact his toes were being forcefully pinched together in the terrible shoes he was wearing at his parent's demand made him forget about his important mantra: Don't look at Emma. For how long would he have to be kept as isolated as possible from his adorable little sister? Until he learned to keep the ice and snow contained? That could take years! Emma meant the world to him. He didn't want to be kept separated from her, but he knew that he had to.

It was for her own safety.

The safety of everyone in the castle!

And that list definitely included—

"Jack! Hi!"

Oh, no.

Jack's head snapped around. Elsa and Anna were bounding down the hall toward him with cheerful smiles on their faces, obviously happy to see him.

Just seeing the two royal princesses, in particular Elsa, made Jack's heart literally start pounding frantically in his ribcage as a wave of anxiety and fear rushed through his body. He had almost killed them last night because of his carelessness with his powers, and yet, thanks to the magic that Pabbie the rock troll healer had used on them, neither of them remembered anything from last night. They didn't even remember that he had ice and snow magic. They assumed that he was an ordinary boy, just like them.

But he hadn't forgotten all that had happened.

Jack hadn't forgotten how he had accidentally struck their heads with his powers and how they were knocked out cold. That new white streak in Anna's hair and all of Elsa's hair being platinum blonde now would forever act as a reminder of his careless misuse of his powers. Not to mention all the changes that were happening in the castle because of what he'd done. He was responsible for over half of the staff losing their jobs just so that there was less of a chance of him either hurting someone by accident or someone finding out about his icy magic. Plus, thanks to Elsa's new hair color, the king and queen had to take down the portrait of the royal family to hide the fact that her hair was originally chestnut brown, and a new one had to be commissioned so that it would look like Elsa had always been a blonde. He alone was responsible for so many unnecessary things that would have never happened if only he didn't have his stupid powers.

The king and queen had been kind enough to give him a second chance living here in the palace so he could learn to control his ice and snow magic.

But until he learned how to use his powers properly, he couldn't be with Elsa or Anna.

Just like he couldn't be with Emma.

He couldn't be with his friends.

As the girls ran toward him, Jack completely froze up – figuratively, that is, as no ice appeared around him. He just stood there for several seconds as he struggled to think up something to say as they both skidded to a halt right in front of him, still smiling happily.

"Elsa. Anna," he breathed, fighting the urge to try and scoot away from the girls lest he hurt their feelings.

"Hi, Jack!" chirped Anna, her small pigtails bouncing a bit as she hopped in place with pure joy. "Elsa and I heard about all the servants being sacked! We were worried that you were going, too! But you're just moving rooms! That's a relief!"

"You must be excited! We heard that you get your own bedroom now! That'll be fun, huh?" chimed Elsa, her bright blue eyes twinkling as she gazed at her longtime friend.

Jack didn't reply right away, as he was struggling to keep his emotions in check. Truth be told, having his own room now rather than sharing a cot in the corner of the main servants' quarters with his parents and Emma wasn't all that appealing to the little boy. At least in the primary servants' quarters he got to be with his family all the time, even if his father wasn't all that nice to him. Having his own room now meant the beginning of his precautionary isolation.

When he finally found his words, he fought against the urge to thickly gulp as he looked away from Elsa and Anna to stare at a random spot on the hallway wall in front of him.

"I guess," he quietly muttered, not allowing himself to say anything further.

Elsa and Anna were taken aback. What was going on with Jack? They had been expecting him to say something along the lines of it was going to be awesome to have his own bedroom all to himself from now on, or to start whining as having his own room meant he couldn't be with Emma anymore. They had at least anticipated that he would wave enthusiastically to them with his happy-go-lucky smile when he saw them approaching. Instead, their dark-haired friend seemed to be all but indifferent to not only the new room assignments and Emma, but to them as well.

That didn't stop Elsa, though. She just kept trying to be hopeful. "Well… I'm sure you must be busy right now, but if you have time later, Jack, do you wanna play with me and Anna?"

Anna eagerly nodded. "Yeah! It's summertime! Let's go play! We should play hide and seek in the gardens!"

Jack tensed. He wanted so badly to say yes. Going out to play outside with Elsa and Anna sounded like so much fun! He wanted to go play with them. He wanted to cheat at hide and seek by sneaking around from hiding spot to hiding spot behind tall leafy trees or in the shrubbery of some bushes, occasionally throwing a few fistfuls of dirt at one of the girls for good measure just to see their reactions and make them laugh…

But it didn't matter what he wanted.

He had to tell them no.

"No thanks," he mumbled shortly, clenching his fists up even tighter to try and suppress his powers. "I don't wanna…"

Elsa and Anna stared. In their entire life, never had they known Jackson Overland to ever say 'no' to an opportunity to play and have fun with them.

Anna opened her mouth to ask why he was telling them that he didn't want to play, but that was when Kirsten poked her head out into the hall.

"Jack? We got your room set up, so you can go right in and – Oh! Your highnesses!"

Elsa and Anna smiled kindly to Jack's mom.

"Good morning, Mrs. Overland."

"Hi, Mrs. Overland!"

Kirsten struggled to smile pleasantly in return. Until her son learned how to control his powers, she couldn't allow Jack to be around the princesses.

"Yes, good morning, Princess Elsa, Princess Anna… Jack? Time to come in, now. Get your things set up in your room."

Jack started to nod and head inside, but Elsa's voice cut in.

"Can we help at all? We know we're princesses, but we don't mind! We'd like to help Jack! Right, Anna?"

"Yeah! We wanna help!"

Jack's hands were clenched up so tight by this point, they looked almost white compared to their normal peachy color, but he didn't dare make eye contact with either of the girls. Instead, he was gazing worriedly up at his mother, not quite sure what to say or do about this.

Kirsten seemed to be at a total loss for words herself for a few moments. "Oh… well… I—"

"What's taking so long? Kirsten, get Jack and Emma and come back in!"

Tobias Overland's face appeared behind his wife, but then he caught sight of Elsa and Anna standing in front of Jack, and his face morphed into a very fixed smile.

"Princess Elsa, Princess Anna," he said with forced civility. "My apologies for this, but Jack won't be playing today."

And then, before Elsa and Anna could beg the Overland patriarch to let Jack play with them for just a few minutes or Kirsten could gently coax her husband to keep a hold on his temper, Tobias emerged fully from the apartment and lunged forward to seize hold of his son's elbow. Jack yelped a bit from both surprise and the fact that his father was grabbing his arm so hard that his fingers were causing him pain, but Tobias ignored him and everyone else's stares as he hauled Jack behind him so that he could get him inside the room.

Kirsten smiled apologetically to the little girls as she gathered Emma up in one arm, and collected the last of the bundles of possessions with the other.

"I'm sorry, girls, but I'm afraid Jack can't play. Really, I'm truly sorry."

Then she followed her husband and son inside the small apartment. Jack lingered in the doorway for a moment as his parents ventured further into their new quarters, and he stared sadly at Elsa and Anna. For a moment, it seemed as though he might say something to them, as he opened his mouth to speak but then stopped himself. He gave them a sad look, and then quietly shut the door on them, disappearing fully into the room.

For the longest time, Elsa and Anna stood there in utter disbelief. Jack had barely said anything to them at all, and his parents had been oh so quick to drag him away from the two of them when they saw him talking to them.

What was going on?

* * *

Tobias made sure to listen for the sound of footfalls beyond the door to indicate that Elsa and Anna had left and that Kirsten had safely put Emma down in her crib before rounding on Jack, who was busily rubbing his elbow where he had been grabbed before.

"What was that out there?" he asked pointedly, an angry scowl on his face as he glared down at his small son.

Jack averted his eyes and stared sadly at some bundles in a corner of the room that had yet to be unpacked. "They came up and started talking to me, Daddy… I didn't start it…"

Tobias's features only became twice as furious. "Doesn't matter, Jack. You don't talk to the princesses anymore, got it?! You don't look at them! You don't talk to them! You don't spend any time with them! And that goes double with Emma!"

Jack's eyes widened, and he felt his heart break in two at hearing this. "But… But Daddy—"

"No 'buts' Jack! It's a miracle that the king and queen didn't have all of us thrown out of the castle last night with nothing but the clothes on our backs! I have too much riding on staying in this castle, and I won't have you jeopardize it by using those cursed powers of yours to accidentally kill the princesses of Arendelle, and should you use them when near Emma, a mere infant, I don't even want to think of what might happen!"

Jack flinched, and thick and heavy tears started rolling down his cheeks, but Tobias was not moved at all by his son's distress.

That was when Kirsten stepped in.

"That's enough, Tobias! You're being too harsh on him!"

"Harsh?! You think it's harsh to want to make sure that we all stay in the castle?! I think I'm being perfectly reasonable!"

"Regardless, Jack is just a little boy, Tobias! And he's your son! Show some compassion!"

Tobias glared at his wife, but Kirsten shot him back a cold look of her own before bending down on one knee so she could put her hands on her son's small shoulders and look him right in the eye.

"Listen to me, Jack, I know last night was just an accident and that what your father is saying right now is really scary, but he does have a point. It's not safe for you to be around Elsa, Anna, or Emma right now, so you can't play with them anymore. At least not until you learn to control your powers. After you learn how to use them properly, you can play and have fun with your friends and Emma as much as you want. But not now, okay?"

"Okay…" Jack whimpered, wiping away the tears from his eyes.

Jack didn't like it, but he knew his parents were right.

Until he could control his ice and snow magic, it wasn't safe for him to be around Elsa, Anna, and Emma.

No more playtime with any of them anymore.

No more fun.

* * *

Summer days bled away into autumn foliage, and falling leaves soon died to make room for winter snow, and all too soon, December came upon the castle of Arendelle.

"Elsa! Elsa! Look! Look! Snow!"

Elsa lightly laughed as she allowed herself to be dragged by Anna to one of the many windows in the palace, and they both excitedly peered out. Like all the windows in the palace since the castle had been put into a state of isolation, the locks on the window remained shut, but the girls could still easily look outside. There had apparently been a snowfall last night after they both went to bed, and the two little princesses had been pleasantly surprised when they woke up this morning to discover a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground outside. In the distance, they could see the snowy mountainsides and forests looking picturesque in the fresh coat of ice and frost, and the roofs of the houses in the village right outside the castle seemed almost like gingerbread houses with white icing on them, they looked so cute.

It was such a lovely wintry morning.

Elsa pressed her hands against the glass of the window as she peered outside. "What a perfect morning!" she exclaimed.

"Best morning ever!" Anna agreed. "It snowed last night! We gotta go play in it! Let's go build a snowman!"

Elsa eagerly nodded. "Yes! It's the perfect day to build a snowman!"

"A snowman just like Olaf!"

Anna had added that last bit without thinking, but the moment she brought up Olaf, the snowman that they had built with their old friend Jackson Overland this time last winter, both girls suddenly grew very quiet, and they gazed down sadly at their feet.

Ever since his family had changed room apartments in the servants' quarters back in summer, they rarely ever saw Jack anymore. He was almost always locked up in his bedroom and didn't run around the castle anymore, nor did he try to sneak into their bedroom in the middle of the night and ask them to play. It was so strange. Jack was not the type of boy that enjoyed being shut away in his room. He had to run wild and cause good-natured havoc everywhere he went in the castle as he whooped and cheered at the top of his lungs.

Especially in the winter.

Winter was his all-time favorite season of the year.

When the first snowfall came down in Arendelle last year, Jack had been the first person to spring the news on the princesses. Literally. Ignoring all rules about servant-propriety, the boy had dashed into their bedroom first thing that morning and had started jumping and down on their beds to wake them up as he cheered loudly about the snow outside. Needless to say, the wild child had been scolded harshly by his parents, but that didn't deter the Overland boy from his mission of dragging Elsa and Anna outside the first chance he had so they could all play.

That had been such a fun day and held many good memories for the two girls.

Now, it seemed as though memories were the only good things that they could hold on to in regards to their friend.

During the rare instances that Jack emerged from his bedroom in his family's compartments, Jack stuck close to his mother. He never dared to venture far from her side as she did her duties throughout the castle, and he always kept his hands in tights fists at his sides, unwilling to let them uncurl or to let his arms move about. In the few instances that Jack had come face-to-face with either Elsa or Anna, or met them together, Jack would say very little to them. He would immediately hide himself behind his mother and let her gently steer him away from the princesses and back to their apartments so he could hide himself away in his bedroom.

It was so strange, everything that was going on with Jack.

But the strangest thing of all had to be that Jack never so much as looked at Emma anymore, let alone touched her.

Before he had shut himself away, Jack had been all but a perfect big brother to Emma despite her being only a few months old and he being eight, almost nine now in a couple weeks just like Elsa would be soon. He would drag Emma around with him everywhere and make her laugh and smile as he made silly faces to keep her entertained and showed her all the various paintings on the walls and in the royal art gallery and the occasional secret passageways in the castle, not there were all that many to begin with.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was that everyone saw how much Jackson Overland loved his little sister and gladly showed her off to everyone he met as he gave Emma private tours of the palace. But now, from what Elsa and Anna had seen during the rare instances when Kirsten carried her daughter in her arms as she went about the palace and Jack joined her so as to have a bit of fresh air from his stuffy bedroom, Jack never looked twice at Emma, even though she would often laugh and smile at him while waving her little hands in his general direction. Her baby gurgles and gestures were a clear indication that she wanted him to pay attention to her and show her love.

But he never once did anything.

Elsa sighed as she thought about her absentee friend. She would never admit it out loud, but she missed playing with Jack so much even though in the past she had often pretended to be annoyed by his fun-loving nature. Just what was going on with him?

"I'm sorry, Elsa. I didn't mean to make you sad…"

Elsa's head whipped around. Anna was giving her a genuinely apologetic look as she timidly shuffled her feet a bit, looking very guilty for making her big sister obviously upset.

With a small smile, Elsa patted Anna's shoulder to express that it was okay. "It's not your fault, Anna. Jack's just been acting strange lately, that's all. Really though, I wonder why we barely see him anymore these days?"

"I saw his papa working with the other servants the other day and asked about it. His papa just told me that Jack's not gonna be playing with us anymore. I got upset and asked why, but he didn't tell me."

"You talked to Jack's papa without me?"

"I didn't mean to! You just happened to be talking to Mama and Papa at the time and I saw him by chance! I didn't mean to exclude you! Don't be mad at me!"

"I'm not mad at you, Anna! I could never be mad!"

"Oh, good! That's a relief!"

The exaggerated breath of relief Anna made while puffing out her chubby cheeks made her elder sister laugh hard. Anna could be so funny sometimes, no doubt about it.

"Why don't we go ask Jack if he wants to come play in the snow with us?" she suggested. "We could build a new snowman with Jack, and he can bring Emma with him, too!"

"Okay!"

And with that, the royal princesses set off down the hall together in search of the Overland family apartments.

The girls easily found the room and went inside after knocking politely and announcing their entry. They didn't have to worry about offending anyone. Elsa and Anna both knew that Kirsten and Tobias were both working right now, and because Emma was still only a baby and was resting in her cradle in her own room, the only person in the family unit that understood that someone had entered the main room of the living space would be Jack. They knew he hadn't accompanied either of his parents when they left to do their duties around the palace earlier, so he had to be in his bedroom right now.

The girls popped into Emma's nursery for a moment to check in on the seven-month-old baby and tickle her tummy, but then they both approached Jack's closed bedroom door.

"Jack?" Elsa called out rather cheerfully, knocking a few times on the wood for good measure as she did. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

All was silent from beyond the door.

Anna huffed. She didn't like being ignored. "Come on, Jack! Let's go and play!" she added to her sister's words.

There was still no response from the little boy they both knew was in the room.

"It'd be fun, Jack! I promise!" Elsa went on. "You always love to have fun! We never see you anymore! So, come out and come play with us!"

"It's almost like you've gone away! We all used to be best buddies!" Anna exclaimed. "But now we're not… Can't you at least tell us why?"

"Or if you don't want to tell us, that's fine!" Elsa said. "Just come on out and build another Frosty or Olaf the Snowman with us! Or, you know, it doesn't have to be a snowman! You could bring Emma along and we could all go sledding or ice skating or… or we could talk about what presents we might get from our parents for our birthdays or from Santa Claus on Christmas! I'm hoping I get a—"

"Go away, Elsa, Anna!"

There was a long silence as Elsa and Anna simply stared at the white wood of the closed bedroom door in utter disbelief. While they had been half expecting for Jack to refuse their offer to come play, they certainly hadn't been expecting him to harshly snap at them to leave him be. He had certainly changed, and not for the better.

In the opposite room, tiny little Emma had heard her big brother's shout, and started crying a bit in her crib.

Elsa and Anna worriedly turned to face the open door that led to Emma's room, and then they looked back over at Jack's door, expecting him to leave the sanctuary of his bedroom and come running to check in on and calm down his little sister who he accidentally scared. But there was no movement from beyond the door. They neither heard the sound of Jack's footfalls or saw his shadow underneath the door showing any sign that he was approaching the door to open it and go see Emma.

"Jack? Aren't you going to calm down Emma?" Elsa called out.

Jack didn't respond from within.

Anna huffed as she rapped repeatedly on the door. "Jack, didn't you hear Elsa?! Emma's crying! You should go calm her—"

"Go find my mommy or daddy. They'll deal with her. Now please leave."

Anna gaped, but Elsa just stared at Jack's bedroom door blankly, not even processing what she was hearing. Was this really Jack? How could he ever be so cold and indifferent to not only the two of them, but also to his new sister who he adored?

"Jack—"

"Okay, bye! Good riddance, Jack! Have fun being all alone!"

Elsa jumped at hearing Anna's furious shout, but before she could say anything to try and scold Anna for yelling at Jack, Anna was seizing hold of her hand and dragging her behind her as she deliberately stomped loudly away from Jack's door and out of the family unit, mumbling under her breath about how cruel Jack had just been to the two of them.

"Man, he's such a big meanie! I can't believe we were ever friends with such a jerk! Who needs him, right, Elsa?! You and me can have all the fun we want on our own!"

"But… But Anna—"

"C'mon, Elsa! Let's go build our own snowman!"

Elsa was powerless to resist against her little sister as she was dragged to the grand staircase and pulled down the stairs. While she too was hurt by how Jack had told them to go away and then ignored their insistence that he go and check on his screaming baby sister, Elsa didn't understand what she or Anna could have done that had seemingly made Jack so mad at them. She had initially thought that his avoiding them for the past few months was because he was going through some type of phase, but now she wasn't so sure. All she and Anna had done was ask him if he wanted to come play with them, and he had yelled at them to make them leave him be.

What had happened to her happy, fun loving friend?

And more importantly, what had happened to the little boy she used to know that adored his new little sister?

* * *

Jack sat on the edge of his bed and waited until he was positive that Elsa and Anna were gone before he dared to let his tears slide down his face. He let them silently fall for a few moments, and then he hunched over until his face was cradled in his hands and he started full out sobbing.

He hated himself for yelling at his friends like that. Especially Elsa. While he considered both girls to be his friends, Jack considered Elsa to be an even more important friend to him than Anna was. She might have always considered him to be a nuisance in the past when it was still okay for him to play with her and tease her to his heart's content, but still, she was so interesting that he couldn't help but take an interest in her. Now though, it didn't matter how much she continued to intrigue him. For her safety as well as Anna's and everyone else in this castle, he had to maintain minimum contact with her or else people could get hurt again.

But what he hated himself even more for was ignoring Emma when she desperately needed him.

Pushing away a friend?

That was one thing.

But ignoring his screaming infant sister?

That was something unforgivable.

Emma was such a sweet baby that should always have a smile on her face as she laughed. She should never be screaming at the top of her little lungs in terror from having witnessed her older brother's cursed powers hurt people, or from listening to her brother yell at people to leave him alone. He was a true monster. Granted, she had calmed down on her own accord a few minutes after Elsa and Anna had wandered off and she had presumably fallen back asleep again, but it was still so messed up that he wasn't even allowed to hold her and comfort her when she was upset.

There wasn't anything Jack wouldn't do right now just to be given one moment where he could hold his sweet little sister on his lap one last time so he could get her to calm down from her screams and gently soothe her back to sleep.

He wanted to act like a big brother again to Emma.

Just one last time.

That's all he wanted.

Suddenly, the sound of gleeful screaming and cheering from somewhere outside caught his attention, and he lifted his head out of his hands to reveal wet and curious red-rimmed eyes. Sniffling a bit for good measure as he wiped his eyes dry with the blue sleeve of his shirt, Jack forced himself to forget all about Emma for a minute as he approached the one tiny window in his isolated bedroom and peered curiously outside. It looked as though despite his yelling at the two of them, Elsa and Anna had decided to go and play outside in the snow without him. The two of them were running around and laughing as they rolled up several balls of snow to make a snowman and occasionally chucked snowballs at one another for good measure.

Jack's heart ached enviously as he watched the two princesses have fun – fun that he so desperately wanted to be a part of. Why did he have to be born with these stupid powers? He just wanted to be a normal little boy that could not only safely play with Elsa and Anna in the snow outside all he wanted, but could also safely allow himself to hug and tickle his sweet little sister. More sad tears leaked from his dark brown eyes as he pressed his hands against the glass of the window and continued to watch the princesses, but the moment he touched the glass with his bare fingers, great amounts of ice and frost shot out from his fingertips, and he shrieked and recoiled in horror as they rapidly spread across the window pane.

After a few moments of disbelief that he had, without conscious command, made the ice appear on the window without even trying to make it, Jack started crying again as the tiny fragments that made up what was left of his small heart shattered even further.

Even without trying to do anything at all with his powers, he was still a monster.

How was he ever supposed to learn how to control them properly when it was apparent that his powers didn't exactly have an off switch to them?

There was a sudden, unexpected knock on the door, and Jack whipped around in complete alarm, only to gasp a bit when a lot more ice accidentally shot out from his hands and hit one of the bare walls. The wall glossed over with a thick amount of ice in the area where it struck, effectively creating a coating of dense iciness.

A loud shriek escaped his lips when the ice appeared, and the second he tried to step back away from the icy glaze, snow and frost popped out from his bare feet on the wooden floorboards of the room, and spread everywhere in a three-foot radius.

Jack gulped when he gazed at all the various icy patches. He hadn't been planning to even open the door to whoever had knocked, but whoever it was, he definitely couldn't let them in now. The ice on the window could be explained through pretending he had accidentally left the window open last night and some ice formed when the snow fell. But the ice on the wall and floor? Those he couldn't think up a reasonable lie for.

"D-Don't come in!" he yelled out, doing his best to keep the tremor of fear out of his voice. "I'm busy!"

"Jack? Sweetie? It's Mommy," called out his mother's voice gently. "Daddy's here, too. And so are King Agnar and Queen Idun. We all want to talk to you. Can you please let us in?"

Upon hearing who it was, a great sigh of relief escaped from Jack's lips. "Y-Yeah, come on in," he quietly mumbled.

The doorknob turned, and the door opened to reveal his nervously smiling mother, his stern-faced father, and the gentle faces of the king and queen of Arendelle. Kirsten looked rather anxious about something as she carried something hidden behind her back, and Tobias was doing the same by hiding something behind his own back, but unlike Kirsten who was smiling, Tobias had a monotone expression on his face. It was clear he was neither happy nor mad to be talking to his only son right now.

While Jack would have just normally smiled and nodded if it was only Kirsten and Tobias who had entered his room, for King Agnar and Queen Idun, the monarchs of the realm, he hastily bowed down as low as he could while clenching his hands back up into tight fists. He had already hurt the two royal princesses and scared his own little sister. He would not risk injuring or possibly making his own parents and the king and queen afraid of him, too.

The adults were rather surprised when they saw all the ice on the floor, on one of the walls, and even on part of the miniscule window, but the one who was the most annoyed by it was undoubtedly Tobias.

"Jack! What happened in here?!" he demanded.

Kirsten shot her husband a pointed look. "Tobias…" she said gently, but still firmly in a warning tone.

But Tobias was not at all intimidated. "He is staying in here as often as he can so he can learn control, Kirsten! Not to experiment with that magic of his!"

"I-It was an accident, Daddy! I didn't mean to!" Jack insisted. "I just… I just touched the window when I was looking outside and it came out by accident! And I got startled when Mommy knocked, and it shot out of my hands and feet! I didn't mean to make more ice!"

"It's all right, Jackson," Queen Idun cut in, her face displaying nothing but genuine kindness as she bent down a bit so that she was at Jack's level. "We know that you don't mean any ill will. You're a good boy, never forget that. But your father is right about one thing, and that is that you do have to learn to control your powers, that way you can leave this room more often unchaperoned by your parents."

"I can't be unchaperoned, your majesty!" Jack gasped in horror. "I don't want to cause any more accidents around the palace! I don't want anyone else to get hurt! I'm fine being with Mommy or Daddy!"

"Be that as it may, your parents have their servant's duties that they must attend to around the palace, and in a few years, you will be ten, and you will start your own servant's training," King Agnar explained. "You won't always be around your parents, so you need to learn how to keep your powers contained when you leave this room."

"But… But how, King Agnar? The ice comes out randomly! Out of my hands and feet!"

"Actually Jack, we think we might have a solution for that," Kirsten chimed in. "Though, it was really King Agnar who came up with the idea. May we tell him, your majesty?" she politely asked, turning her head to look over at King Agnar.

The king nodded. "By all means! Go right ahead," he assured her.

With a smile, Jack's mother brought her hands out from behind her back, revealing a set of small, white silk gloves, and then his father brought forth his hands to expose what he had been hiding behind him, a thick pair of somewhat dressy black lace up boots.

Jack blinked when he saw the presents. He was beyond puzzled. "Gloves? And boots?" he asked in obvious confusion.

Tobias glared at his son. "What?! Are you saying you won't wear them?!" he growled.

The other adults stared at him while Jack jumped and frantically shook his head. "N-No, Daddy! I'll wear them! I just don't understand why!" he hastily explained.

"Tobias! Stop snapping at him!" Kirsten hissed. "He's just a little boy! Be gentle with him for once!"

"No, he needs to understand how serious this situation is if he doesn't wear these!" Tobias insisted. "Every time he leaves this bedroom, he has to conceal and not feel those powers of his if he's to do his duties around this castle when he's older!"

Jack's ears perked up a bit at that. "What do you mean?" he asked.

King Agnar and Queen Idun had wisely chosen to stay out of the parenting disputes the Overlands had over raising Jack with his strange ice and snow powers, but that didn't mean that they didn't have their own private opinions about how Tobias treated his son. He really was a terrible father, and secretly, they couldn't help but wonder if he might one day snap when it came to being horrible to Jack. Still though, it was none of their business so they never brought it up with Kirsten. And right now, they had to keep the focus on why they had all come here with the gloves and boots they had presented to Jack. They had to teach the small boy the mantra they had also come up with so he could remind himself to keep his magic in check in the future.

"Jack, the gloves and the boots will help you," said Queen Idun kindly. "They can keep your powers contained and not shoot out unintentionally. But… But we all think you should try not to get so… emotional."

Jack stared. "Emotional, your majesty?" he repeated, not understanding her.

Kirsten bit her lower lip, clearly apprehensive about whatever it was she was about to say, but then nodded in agreement to the queen's words. "What she means, Jack, is that you should try to… well… try not to feel anything."

Jack became very quiet when he heard this. He just stared at all of them with wide, shocked eyes.

"Feel… nothing?" he whispered in disbelief.

"That's right! Suppress all emotions!" Tobias barked. "Your powers seem to go all over the place when you feel emotions, so you have to try to be emotionless all together! Feel nothing from now on!"

As Jack's head reeled from hearing this, Kirsten shot her husband another dirty look. "Must you be that way, Tobias?!" she snapped. "He is your son! This is hard enough to tell him what he must be like from now on! Don't be so unnecessarily cruel!"

Tobias glared at his wife, but before he could snap out a retort of some kind, Kirsten's hand shot out and snatched the kid-sized boots out of his grip, and then marched forward so that she was standing right before her precious little boy.

"Go on, Jack. Sit on the edge of the bed. I'll lace up your boots for you," she said sweetly.

Jack's eyes brimmed with tears and he sat down on the edge of the bed as his mother instructed, but he refused to let them fall and let her, his father, and the king and queen see that he was already struggling to maintain a stoic demeanor. He wanted his mother and the king and queen to see that he was trying to follow their instructions when it came to controlling his powers and for them to be proud of him. As for his father… if he could just have one day of having his father smiling at him and telling him how much he loved him, he would be the happiest boy in the whole world.

He just wanted his father to love him.

Was that such a crime?

He tried his best to keep a level expression on his face as his mother smiled at him encouragingly and neatly laced each up of his tiny black boots onto his bare feet, but when it came time for her to slip the gloves on his small hands, Jack hesitated, curling his closed hands up to his chest. He knew that this was for the best and that his mother, father, and the king and queen were only trying to help him, but still… this felt wrong. Something deep inside his subconscious was screaming at him not to put on those gloves – that putting them on would only make things a hundred times worse for him when it came to controlling his powers…

But then again, what other choice did he have?

The adults in front of him had given him an idea for keeping his powers from hurting other people.

And he couldn't think up a better idea than theirs…

"Jack? What's wrong?" Kirsten asked him gently, bringing the boy back to the present. "Are you afraid?"

Was he afraid of putting on the gloves?

That was a stupid question.

Yes. A thousand times over, yes.

But at the same time, he was more afraid of what he might end up doing one day should he not put them on.

"No, Mommy," he said with a thick voice, reluctantly uncurling one of his hands and allowing her to slip the soft material onto his palm before consenting to her doing the same with his other hand. "No, I'm… I'm fine…"

Kirsten could see right through her son's sad lie, though, and as soon as she finished putting the gloves on him, she cupped his tiny cheek in her hand and softly kissed his forehead.

"I know this is all very scary for you, Jack, but this _will_ help you! I promise!" she said lovingly. "Have I ever lied to you?"

Jack immediately shook his head no.

"Good. Now, I want you to repeat this phrase after me, okay? 'Conceal it, don't feel it.'"

"'C-Conceal it, don't feel it…'"

"'Don't let it show.'"

"'Don't let it show…'"

"All together now, Jackie."

"Conceal it, don't feel it… Don't… Don't let it show!"

Kirsten smiled, and then swept a few strands of her son's wild brown hair out of his eyes before hugging him tightly.

"That's right, Jack. So long as you play the part, you will _become_ the part. Don't let anyone else know!"

* * *

Time ticked past in the kingdom of Arendelle in the blink of an eye, and before long, four long years had gone by. Winter weather had once again descended upon the Norwegian castle, and the two princesses of the country were once again wandering through the many winding corridors of the palace, both exhausted from enduring grinding princess lessons that day.

"Yeesh! Who knew that there were certain rules involved just when greeting other people!" whined the nine-year-old Princess Anna. The years had been good to the younger of the two princesses, and instead of wearing her pretty red hair in simple pigtails these days, she elected to instead tie it back into two utterly adorable red braids. Braids were the fashion in Norway, after all, and the little princess actually liked the way that her two new braids of hair bounced about now on her shoulders whenever she walked. "I mean, having to say stuff like, 'It's a pleasure to meet you, your excellency,' just when meeting a duke, and knowing that you're never supposed to call a prince or princess 'your majesty,' because that's reserved for kings and queens, but you're supposed to call them 'your highness!' Oh, it's all so confusing!"

Elsa, almost thirteen, did her best to remember what she learned in her lesson that day to attempt a dainty giggle behind her hand as she listened to Anna's angry rambling. "I'll admit that etiquette lessons can be tiring, but it's still necessary. Imagine what would happen should either of us one day insult a noble by accident! We might cause a war to break out!"

"What? Just from forgetting to let some wrinkly-faced count kiss my hand when he first meets me? If that's the case, he's a stuffy old fool who's far too uptight and should be replaced pronto! And I'll tell him that right then and there to his face!"

"Careful, Anna. Say that to a Viking from the Barbaric Archipelago or to one of those noble lords from the kingdom of Dunbroch, and there will for sure be a war. I heard that nobles from that Scottish kingdom value tradition above anything, and those Vikings love warfare! We must maintain a good front should we ever talk to someone from the Barbaric Archipelago. They'll look for any excuse to invade us if given the opportunity!"

"What? You mean that kingdom that marries people off at… what, fifteen? And those people who live on all those tiny islands that deal with so-called dragon attacks on a daily basis? Their customs are both so weird!"

Elsa laughed as the two of them paused when they came across the same large window that they had peered out of a few years ago, during the first snowfall of the same year that their old friend had started shutting out everyone else in the world. Truth be told, Elsa was still hoping that a day would come when Jackson Overland would let other people enter his cold and lonely world and would welcome her as a friend once again. But in the meantime, she was so glad that she had such a good relationship with her little sister. She had no idea what she would do if she didn't. There weren't many other children in the castle among the servants, or at least none that were around their age. Jack's little sister Emma had turned four this year, and although she and Anna still liked to visit the Overland family apartments to play peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek with the cute little doll of the servant family, Elsa still longed to have the companionship of someone around the same age as her.

She wanted to be Jack's friend once again.

"Look, Elsa! It snowed during our lessons!" Anna exclaimed.

Elsa snapped out of her train of thought and paid attention to the view beyond the castle window. Sure enough, a fresh blanket of snow was covering the scenery outside, and fat round flakes were still descending lazily from the grayish clouds high above.

"Beautiful…" she whispered, pressing her hand against the glass pane and then quickly removing it so as to see the outline of the handprint left behind in the frost.

Anna squealed with joy as she jumped up and down while clapping her hands. "We should go invite Emma and the other kids to come play out in the snow with us now that classes are done! It'd be a lot of fun!"

Elsa nodded at the suggestion. While the two princesses were the oldest kids in the castle other than Jack, there were now a few more kids in the palace around the same age as Jack's sister. During the past few years that little Emma had been born, a massive baby boom took place in the castle among the servants, and there were a couple of other kids all around the little four-year-old's age range that were running about the castle now. Most of the castle mothers often left all the young ones in the servant common room where they could all play together under the watchful eye of any other servants that were off duty at the time. All the kids were good friends with each other, but the friendship that meant the world to all the poor children of the castle employees was that Princess Elsa and Princess Anna loved to play and spend time with all of them.

"That's a good idea, Anna. Let's go and check the servants' quarters and see if any of them want to play with us."

"Okay!"

The girls headed down the hall to the common room for the servants and knocked on the door politely before opening the door and entering. Sure enough, Emma and the rest of the servant children were playing with their various toys on the carpeted flooring of the room. They were making up some type of adventure story with some stuffed animals, rag dolls, and a few wooden toy boats and pull carts with tiny figurine horses attached. Kirsten and another dark-haired servant mother were busy watching over all the kids playing as they chatted animatedly with one another to pass the time.

The moment that Elsa and Anna entered the room, however, the children stopped playing all at once. They immediately dropped their toys as they scrambled to their feet, and began circling around Elsa and Anna while cheering excitedly.

"It's the princesses!"

"They came to play with us!"

"Play! Play! Play!"

Elsa and Anna both smiled as they hugged each one of the little kids. They were all so sweet, and they seemed to completely idolize the two of them even though all that the princesses did was occasionally pop their heads into the servants' area to occasionally ask Jack if he would like to hang out with the two of them and to see a certain little sister of his.

And speaking of which—

"Princess Elsa! Princess Anna!" shouted one particular little girl. "You're here! You're here!"

Four-year-old Emma Overland came bounding out of the crowd of kids and tackled both girls in a strong hug that nearly made Elsa and Anna lose their balance when she grabbed hold of them. She had grown over the past few years from a lovable and snuggly baby to an utterly adorable little girl. With her straight brown hair and big brown eyes and little gap-toothed smile, she was undoubtedly as cute as a button. Nothing could be bad in little Emma's eyes. The world was one great big game and was a wonderful and happy place where absolutely nothing could go wrong. She was the sweetest little girl that ever existed, that was for certain.

Elsa smiled as she hugged Emma back. "Hi, Emma! Are you all having fun?"

Emma giggled as she eagerly nodded. "Uh-huh! I was just playing with Jamie and his friends! We're playing Rescue the Princess!"

Anna's eyes lit up. "Rescue the Princess? Are Elsa and I in trouble?" she asked playfully.

Emma's smile only grew as she shook her head. "No! We're pretending to rescue the Lost Princess of Corona! We're saving her! Jamie's leading the army to the dark dungeon she's been kept in all this time! Right, Jamie?"

Emma's best friend, fellow four-year-old Jamie Bennett, was a little dark-haired boy who was often mistaken to be her twin whenever others saw them together. They did look very similar to one another, after all. Untidy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, and he had a kind and adventurous personality. It was a well-known fact around those that hung out in the servant quarters that the little Bennett boy had a tendency to explore everywhere in the castle, often getting in trouble when his games caused him and his friends to get into mischief. Still, he was a nice boy, and not only did Emma get along well with him, Kirsten thought that his mother, Olivia, was just as wonderful and considered her to be one of her closest friends among the castle employees.

Jamie smiled a wide, toothy smile. "Yeah! We found the Lost Princess! We're about to storm the dungeon to rescue her! Caleb and Claude? Prepare the cannons! Monty? Assemble the troops!"

A pair of dark-haired, dark-skinned twin boys brought forward the wooden toy boats and little pull carts and horses, and a little blonde boy with a pair of thick red glasses grabbed the stuffed animals.

"Troops in position!"

"Cannons ready?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

"Steady now… Take aim… _Fire!"_

The kids all made sounds reminiscent to cannons firing, and then they all began knocking down a number of stacked building blocks in pantomime of knocking down a stone wall.

Emma clapped excitedly as she darted away from Elsa and Anna to join the other two girls among her age range friend group in collecting the rag dolls.

"Yay! We broke the dungeon walls! Pippa! Cupcake! Let's search for the princess!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll save you, Lost Princess!"

Emma and the other two servant girls, one with short reddish-brown hair and the other a bit larger with pixie-cut brown hair, made the rag dolls run past the knocked over blocks and find a small, well-crafted nesting doll of a pretty baby girl with lovely blonde hair.

"Lost Princess! We found you!"

"We're your rescuers! We're here to bring you back to Corona!"

"We saved the princess!"

The younger kids all laughed and cheered as their chaperone mothers smiled at the sight, and even Elsa and Anna were amused as they crept closer to join in on the game. Their cousin may still be missing even after twelve years, but it was still nice to see that she wasn't being forgotten by the younger generation.

"Lost Cousin! We're so happy to finally meet you!" Anna chirped, patting the nesting doll's tiny head to go along with the game.

"You all found our lost cousin, little adventurers?" Elsa teased. "Well, as the future queen of the country, I hereby declare all of you great heroes to the realm! Congratulations, little warriors!"

The kids all cheered.

"Yay!"

"We're heroes!"

"Thank you, Princess Elsa!"

Elsa and Anna smiled. It was always a delight for them to see the children happy. There was nothing better in this world than a happy child.

"We're glad you had fun saving our cousin, but do any of you want to come and play outside with us? It snowed earlier!" Anna said happily.

Within seconds, all the children's faces lit up.

"It snowed?!"

"I wanna play in the snow!"

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"Let's have a snowball fight!"

"No, let's go sledding!"

The children immediately started running for the door, but Kirsten and Olivia's voices quickly stopped them.

"Hold it, children! You can't go outside! At least not like that!"

"Get your cloaks and hats on! It's cold out there!"

The kids all grumbled, but listened to the two mothers as they quietly exited the room to go back to their living quarters and get their warmer clothes. Kirsten started to take Emma back to their own small servant apartment to get her dressed, but then the twins Caleb and Claude started running at top speed down the hall.

"Caleb! Claude! Walk, don't run!" the Overland matriarch called out.

The twins ignored her, though. Kirsten wasn't their mother, so they honestly didn't care what she said to them.

Kirsten bit her lower lip, and then glanced back down at Emma. "Sweetie? Mommy has to go and take care of the twins. Can you go get your hat and winter cloak on? I'll meet you by the grand staircase."

"'Kay, Mommy!"

"I'll take her, Mrs. Overland," Elsa offered. "I don't mind. Anna can go and get our own warmer clothes. Right, Anna?"

"Sure, Elsa! I'll bring them to the entrance to the back gardens!"

"Oh, thank you, your highness! I'm very grateful!"

"It's really no trouble, Mrs. Overland. Come along, Emma! I'll help you find your winter cloak!"

"Yay! I'm going with Princess Elsa!"

And with that, the twelve-year-old crown princess gently took hold of the little four-year-old girl's hand, and started to lead her back down the hall to her family's compartments.

* * *

"Jack? Did you call the livestock in from the pastures?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Every last sheep?"

"Yes."

"Then why do I only count twenty-four as opposed to twenty-five?"

Jackson Overland's eyes widened at his father's words before hanging his head shamefully and his white gloved hands nervously clung onto the oversized shepherd's crook that he had been using to tend the sheep. He had been learning to muck out the stalls in the castle stables and tend to the castle livestock in the privately-owned fields for a little over two months now, but he was really struggling to be a good stable hand and shepherd.

But failure for him was not an option.

Being a shepherd or stable hand were two of the most isolated jobs for servants living in the castle.

And considering how dangerous his powers still were even four years after his major accident with Elsa, Anna, and Emma, it was imperative that he still stayed as secluded as possible while performing his duties around the castle.

The idea to make Jack a shepherd and stable hand to keep his powers a secret had been proposed by King Agnar a little over a year ago as the time drew nearer for Jack to start learning the ropes of being a helper in the castle. Kirsten had been entirely against the idea of Jack going outside, as although she knew it was important for Jack to not let his ice and snow magic be known to anyone else, she also didn't want him to be any more isolated than he already was. She had wanted him to be trained as a butler like Tobias, where at least one of them could always be around to monitor him and keep him company whenever he was out of the room. When the king and queen heard her reasoning, they slowly began to reconsider Agnar's initial decision to keep Jack in total isolation from others even whenever he left his family unit, but that was when Tobias stepped in and put his foot down on the matter. Jack had to be kept completely alone. So long as there was one other person around him, there might be another accident, or at the very least his cursed magic might be exposed. Jack's loneliness meant nothing compared to the safety of everyone else living in the castle. Kirsten was still against it, but Agnar and Idun realized that the man did make a valid point, so Kirsten's wishes were ignored. Tobias's duties were changed from being a normal castle servant to being a stable worker and sheep herder, so that when it finally came time to train Jack, Tobias would be the only one needed to train his son on his duties in the care and keeping of the castle animals.

Of course, what none of the adults had remembered when deciding to have Tobias train his son in complete solitude was how much Tobias hated his son for what he could do, and with every training session Jack screwed up and made mistakes in, Tobias's rage knew no end.

"Dad… I'm sorry. I miscounted. I'll… I'll go back out and—"

The dark-haired boy was cut off when his father grabbed hold of his upper arm so tight, he was forced to let out an unintended yelp of pain.

"Argh!"

"Shut up! I've told you at least a thousand times to double check that you've brought in every last one of the damn sheep before you call them in! Get back out there this instant! We can't let wolves find it first!"

Jack didn't hesitate to comply. He quickly wrenched his arm out of his father's firm grip and made his way back outside the castle barn as fast as he dared to go without running. Should he run, he'd be drawing attention to himself from the few other isolated stable workers moving about here and there as they fed the sheep he had just brought back in from the cold weather outside. Not only did he not want any of them to know about his powers, but he also didn't want any of them suspecting that his father was abusing him.

Not even Kirsten or King Agnar and Queen Idun knew the full extent of Tobias Overland's cruelty towards his only son, and Jack intended to keep it that way.

He already caused enough trouble for his mother and the monarchs on a daily basis by causing them concern over his stupid magic.

The last thing he wanted was to cause them more grief from knowing how his father squeezed his arm so tight he left bruises most days and even occasionally shoved him into the walls of the castle barn when he failed in his training.

As soon as he was out the barn doors and out of sight of his cruel father, Jack leaned up against the outer walls of the barn and sadly sighed. The once happy little boy had not aged well these past few years. He had grown a few inches taller and his facial features were beginning to lose their childhood baby fat, but instead of smiling all the time like he did when he was little, a careful monotone expression was always on his face whenever he left the safety of his small bedroom, and whenever he was inside his precious sanctuary, he was almost always frowning, as he couldn't stop the feelings of sadness and loneliness from washing over his body. He watched every day as his sweet little sister played and had fun with her friends and even occasionally with Elsa and Anna outside in the gardens from his bedroom window, wishing more than anything to be able to spend just one day out there with them like he had before his accident.

But that was an impossible dream.

He knew that if he dared get close to anyone else again, another accident might occur and someone could get hurt.

He had to stay locked away behind his bedroom door, only daring to leave whenever he had his servant duties to attend to, and never allowing himself to spend any time with other people while he was outside.

He also had dark shadows underneath his eyes from years of both lack of sleep and pent up stress. The lack of sleep was due to all the nightmares he suffered from almost every night. Ever since he accidentally injured Elsa and Anna and caused Emma to be afraid of him four years ago, Jack had had terrifying nightmares of unintentionally causing another incident with his powers. The nightmares would always start out the same, with him as a little boy playing with the girls in the Great Hall of the castle as he made it snow all around them, but then the outcome of the night would end with him hurting Elsa and Anna all over again with Emma screaming in horror.

Ironically enough, those were the good nights.

The bad nights ended with him hurting the princesses so badly, they would end up with sharp and pointy icicles sticking out of their chests and blood dripping around them, and Emma, a little baby, would be crushed to death under thick and heavy mounds of ice and snow.

Jack would end up bolting awake with sweat dripping down his face after he had those nightmares, and would gradually end up crying himself to sleep afterwards, all the while praying to whatever gods and spirits were out there that they make sure he never did anything to cause harm to those he cared about. Especially Elsa and Emma. They were the two most important people in his life other than his mother and the king and queen. As for his father… given how Tobias treated him, Jack still respected him, but he wasn't sure if he still loved him anymore after all the times the man had beaten him for using his magic and for screwing up in his servant duties. That being said, he still didn't wish to hurt him with his powers, either.

The stress, on the other hand, was due to numerous reasons. His father's beatings and his loneliness upon being separated from his precious little sister and his friends being the top two reasons, but the third reason for his stress was because of his powers.

Not from trying to make sure that his gloves and boots always remained on and that no one ever found out about them.

But from how hard his magic was always struggling against his desire to keep it bottled up inside him.

Jack never dared to tell his parents or the king and queen this, but within hours of all of them giving him his silk gloves and thick leather boots and told him to start learning to conceal all emotion, the magic inside him started trying to get loose. There was no real way to describe what happened, but… but the more he tried to keep the ice and snow within him and not let it loose, the more he felt that it _wanted_ to get out. Not using his powers caused a great deal of stress on his physical health, and there were some days back when Jack was getting used to his new mantra of 'conceal, don't feel,' that he couldn't even find the energy to climb out of bed unless he needed to use the bathroom. Those days had been the worst. He felt so lethargic and drained, like he would never be cheerful again even if he tried.

You would think that people would have noticed this new behavior from the little boy, how he was so sapped of energy, but because he had been completely isolated in those first days when he was still struggling keep his powers inside him, no one ever noticed, as they never entered his bedroom in those instances. Jack had gotten used to the sensation though as days of feeling like that gradually turned into months, and then months became four long years. He wasn't exactly one hundred percent fine as he still felt so physically removed from his body from keeping his magic sealed up tight inside him, but he was good enough to do his work and be able to safely leave his bedroom without fear of hurting others.

He still hadn't mastered keeping his powers contained and therefore his solitude from others still had to continue, but it was a start at least. And that was good enough for his mother and the king and queen.

But evidently, not for his father. And speaking of his father, if he didn't hurry up and find that sheep soon, he was definitely going to get at least a good whack to his ribcage later. His entire upper body, arms, and legs were the only places Tobias dared to hit or kick him. Anywhere else on the body risked bruises being discovered by other people.

With a sigh, Jack ran his fingers through his messy brown hair, brushed some dust and snow off his warm brown poncho, and began trudging through the snow in the direction of the castle pastures. Out of all the horrible things he had endured with his father since beginning his training as an animal caretaker, just being outside in the snow had to be the worst. He was still completely immune to the cold, so that was no problem, but just being in the white powdery substance he loved to play in and create when he was a child… it was torture. Tending to the animals hadn't been so hard in the spring and summer when it was warmer out and he could ignore the frost that would occasionally coat the interior of his gloves whenever he became anxious, but autumn's approach with cooler weather started making the frost form inside his gloves even more often, and then with today's first snowfall in winter, Jack wanted nothing more than to rip off his stupid gloves and just let his magic be free. The ice and snow inside of him was straining to get loose today more than ever considering that there was even snow already outside. It wanted so badly for Jack to let down his barriers and just make a few more snow flurries to let people have fun in.

But most importantly, Jack suspected that his magic wanted to make sure that he himself had fun.

That was something he had been completely deprived of ever since he had hurt Elsa and Anna and scared Emma.

And it was impossible for him to have.

Should he dare to allow himself to forget about the past and have fun with his magic again, another accident might happen. Not necessarily with any of them, but to someone else he cared about or just to a random person.

No one else was going to get hurt from his stupid, uncontrollable powers.

He eventually forced himself to push all thoughts about his ice and snow powers out of his mind as he continued searching for the lost sheep. It was difficult to find it, considering that the white wool on the small creature blended right in with snowy terrain, but he soon located it trying to hoof the ground underneath a cluster of frozen evergreen trees to try and stay out of the ice cold, blustery winds, and trying to kick away the snow to reach the green grass hidden underneath to munch on. Jack quickly used his staff to gently coax it away from the area and began leading it back to the warmth of the palace barn.

And that's when he heard it.

 _Jack…_

Jack nearly tripped over himself from hearing his name, and the sheep beside him 'baaed' in fear when he instinctively grabbed hold of its back to stay standing. As soon as he righted himself, his head quickly turned every which way imaginable as his eyes darted about, trying to figure out who had called out to him, speaking in such a soft whisper.

But there was no one else to be seen anywhere near him. All the other stable hands were a good distance away and were corralling the animals back into the barn. There was no way any of them could have whispered to him and for him to have heard it considering how far away they all were.

The only thing near him other than the sheep by his side was the wind, and it was gently tousling his locks of messy brown hair.

After another momentary pause, the boy lightly shook his head and then continued guiding the sheep along. He was obviously hearing things from being so lonely and sad. He would have to stay at the dinner table for a few extra minutes after he was done eating tonight before he slipped back into his bedroom of solitude. So long as he didn't give Emma the impression that he was being more open from now on as he talked to all of them while they ate, a onetime leisurely meal with her and his parents surely couldn't hurt.

 _Jack…_

Jack nearly tripped over himself again. This time, he knew for a fact that he heard a voice.

With a nervous gulp, Jack clutched his shepherd staff tightly in his hand as he glanced around warily. "Hello…?" he said slowly. "Is there someone out here…?"

For a long moment, all was silent except for the breath of the wind.

Jack bit his lower lip. He was pretty sure he was being stupid. He was standing in the middle of the castle pastures talking to no one. Yeah, he was definitely losing it…

He was about to continue on with the sheep to the barn, but then he heard it again.

 _Jack…_

Jack's hairs were standing up on the back of his neck at this point. Someone or something was trying to communicate with him. He started walking as fast as he could back to the barn. He already had enough problems on his plate dealing with his ice and snow magic. He didn't want to get involved with any supernatural spirits or ghosts.

All of the sudden, the wind which had been oh so calm a few moments ago suddenly began whipping around him, preventing Jack from going anywhere. The sheep at his side 'baaed' again rather fearfully, but Jack was completely bewildered as he struggled to remain standing upright due to the force of the whistling wind. What on earth was going on?

And then, just as quickly as the wind had whipped up, it died away again, and instead of moving about freely through the field, it seemed to circle directly around the scared and confused twelve-year-old boy.

 _Jack…_

And then it all made sense.

Jack felt a panic course through his body that he had not experienced since his incident with his powers four years ago.

The wind was trying to talk to him.

For the longest time, Jack didn't dare to move. He was beyond terrified. It was bad enough he couldn't control his ice and snow magic, but how could he explain to his parents and the king and queen that now there was an additional problem to add onto the plate because the wind seemed to like him? This was one thing he was positive that they would not believe him about. The wind was talking to him now? The adults would either write him off as either being crazy, or they would take to putting him into permanent solitary confinement, locking him into a new bedroom where there wasn't even a window for him to look outside.

Gripping the shepherd staff even tighter in his hand and fixing a rather straight expression on his face, Jack forced himself to ignore the voice in the breeze and continued walking to the barn at a respectable pace, guiding the dumb sheep along beside him.

 _Jack, don't go back there… Stay… Stay and have fun with your ice and snow…_

Jack didn't dare listen to the wind's words. He was beyond scared about what was happening to him, but he wasn't stupid. This was one thing he could never tell anyone about. The wind whispering to him would have to be kept a secret from everyone. This was to be something he would take with him to his grave.

He would never ever dare to tell anyone that the wind was telling him to go ahead and use his powers.

Ignoring the words the wind continued to whisper to him, begging him to stay outside here in the snow and play and have fun with his magic, Jack half led, half dragged the sheep back inside the barn. He was quickly confronted by his enraged father.

"Did you drag your feet while you were out there, boy?!" Tobias snapped, harshly shoving his son aside to lead the last sheep back into its proper pen. Jack groaned as he rubbed the spot on his side where his father had pushed him, but Tobias ignored his pain. "That should have been a two second, easy job!"

Jack flinched, but didn't dare to break character with his dad around. "Sorry, Dad," he faintly whispered.

Tobias fumed. "Just get back in the castle and straight back to your room! You'll cause more problems than you'll fix should you stay and help get them cleaned up. I'll be up in a few minutes."

"All right, Dad. See you back upstairs."

With another sad sigh, Jack turned and shuffled miserably out of the barn and through the snow to make it back to the castle. Being locked away in his room all the time with no one else for company was horrible, but he would take forced isolation over spending time with his cruel father any day. As long as he was alone in his room, Tobias would be satisfied and he wouldn't yell or hit him. It was a thousand times better to be alone than enduring his father's violence.

He entered the castle through the kitchen back doors, and quietly dodged around the cooks and servants as he navigated through the kitchens and servant staircases to get back to his family's living quarters. Should he make eye contact with anyone by accident, he didn't dare stop to make chit chat. He would just nod politely, but kept a monotone expression on his face as he walked past. He couldn't afford to make conversation with anyone. He had to get back to the safety of the four walls of his bedroom. Only then could he afford to relax.

He managed to make it to the door of the Overland family apartment with little to no difficulty whatsoever, and he was just breathing a deep sigh of relief and giving himself a mental pat on the back for arousing no suspicion from anyone in the castle as he turned the doorknob and entered the living space.

Only to come across a sight he definitely hadn't been expecting to see.

"Are you done yet, Princess Elsa? I wanna go out and play!"

"Just one last button, Emma, then you'll be all set. And… done! You're ready!"

"Yay!"

It took all the willpower that Jack possessed to remain calm and not allow the shock of what he was seeing appear on his face. His little sister being in the family unit was to be expected. What he had _not_ been expecting to see was Elsa on her knees in front of Emma as she buttoned up his sister's winter cloak.

Jack was definitely taken aback, but then, as he stood there in the doorway to his family unit and watched Emma smile happily up at Elsa as she got his little sister dressed to go play outside in the snow, a wave of sadness and even tad bit amount of annoyance and anger washed over Jack, and he couldn't help but frown as he gritted his teeth together and hung his head.

This whole scene was messed up.

Elsa should not be the one Emma was smiling cheerfully at as she got her dressed so they could both go and play together outside.

It should be him.

He was the big brother.

He was supposed to be the one who should be getting Emma into her winter cloak as she chatted happily to him.

This was all just so wrong.

And it was all because of his stupid, cursed powers that prevented him from jumping right in and correcting this messed up scenario he was witnessing.

But Jack stood there watching them for a moment too long, because Emma suddenly turned her head, and her whole face lit up when she spied him.

"Big Brother!"

Within seconds, the tiny four-year-old was waddling away from Elsa on her pudgy little legs to try and give Jack a big hug, but Jack quickly sidestepped off to the right to make sure that Emma didn't touch him. He was panicking inside from the very thought that both his little sister who he loved and Elsa who he still considered to be… a very dear friend despite years of forced separation were together in the same room as him, but he had to act cool and rational. One wrong move and he could accidentally cause something to turn to ice around him despite the safety precaution of his special gloves.

"Elsa, Emma," he said in a level tone, betraying neither happiness nor worry in his voice so as to hide what he was truly thinking. "I wasn't expecting to see either of you right now."

Emma blinked up at him with curious eyes, not fully understanding why her big brother had rejected her plea for physical affection, but Elsa forced a smile on her face as she stood up from where she had been kneeling on the ground to get Emma ready. In Elsa's eyes, this was as good a chance as any to try and mend the bridge between herself and her old childhood friend again.

"Hi, Jack! It's been awhile, hasn't it?" she asked kindly.

Jack fought the urge to thickly gulp as he nodded. He couldn't afford to start a full-blown conversation. He had to get back inside his bedroom before he caused a possible accident and hurt one of them.

"Yes, yes it has... If you'll both excuse me, now, I have stuff I need to do."

And without waiting for any type of reply from either his sister or his old friend, Jack turned, walked as fast as he dared across the room so as to not arouse suspicion from either his little sister or the crown princess, and quickly entered his bedroom, making sure to shut the door firmly behind him.

For a long moment, both Elsa and Emma were stunned by how Jack had all but darted back into his bedroom to try and seemingly get away from the two of them. Elsa in particular couldn't stop herself from feeling incredibly hurt and rejected. What exactly was she doing wrong? She was being kind, wasn't she? Why wouldn't Jack take two seconds just to talk to her?

Her musing was interrupted when Emma suddenly toddled her way up to the door and knocked politely, a happy smile still on her sweet face.

"Jackie! Don't go into your bedroom again!" the little brunette begged. "Come outside and play! We're going to play in the snow!"

Elsa crossed the room and joined Emma in knocking on Jack's door. She had to keep trying to get Jack to open up to her again. If Emma, a young four-year-old girl who didn't even remember the time when Jack was still a sweet and lovable goofball to all he met and always doted on her, his cute little baby sister, still cared enough to try and beg Jack to come out the door and play with them and the other kids that were waiting for them by now, then she had to keep trying, too. A little bit of faith was all it would take.

"Jack?" Elsa called out, rapping her knuckles a few times on the white painted wood. "Won't you join us? Don't you wanna build a snowman again? Or… you know if you don't, we could always do something else!"

"Princess Elsa and Princess Anna have bikes!" Emma chirped with a toothy smile. "We could all go ride them through the halls! I want your company, Big Brother! I want to talk to you! Not to Jamie and the other kids! You!"

"Emma's right, Jack. It gets a little lonely here in the castle without you. There's so many empty rooms. Some days, I just watch the hours tick by," said Elsa. "So please! Come play with us! It doesn't even have to be for a long time! Just a little while!"

"Please, Big Brother! Plea—"

Emma was cut off when the door leading back out to the hallway opened again, revealing the snow-covered body of Tobias.

The moment Emma saw him, she smiled brightly and went bounding towards quickly.

"Daddy!"

She clung to his leg as hard as she could. Tobias was surprised to see his small daughter here, but as he patted her head, he caught sight of Elsa standing in front of Jack's door, and he hurriedly bowed.

"Your royal highness! I wasn't expecting you to be here in my family apartment."

"Hello, Mr. Overland! I was just getting ready to take Emma to play outside! Your wife said it was okay! And we were just inviting Jack to come play with us!"

The moment Elsa mentioned Jack's name, Tobias's curious facial expression became very rigid.

"I'm sorry, Princess Elsa, but Jack going out to play is out of the question."

"But Sir—"

"You and your younger sister may play with Emma as much as you want, but Jack is too busy training now to play. Now, please run along girls. There's important work to be done around the castle."

"Oh please, Daddy? Please? I want to play with Jackie!"

"No, Emma. Now, you and the princess go play. I need to have a serious word with your brother."

Emma looked so dejected at her father's response, but Elsa couldn't help but feel somewhat offended as she and the little girl were all but shoved back out into the hall and the door slammed shut behind them without another word. It was one thing for Jack to be cold and distant to all who he met, but now his father, too?

Just what was going on in the Overland family?

Finally, Elsa sighed, and then took Emma's small hand back into her own.

"Come on, Emma. Let's go and meet up with the others, okay?"

"'Kay…" the little girl mumbled, her voice filled with hurt from being rejected by both Jack and Tobias.

And so, Elsa led Emma down the hall, far away from her father and older brother.

* * *

The moment Tobias was certain that Elsa and Emma had walked far enough down the hallway to be out of earshot, he plastered an ugly scowl onto his face before storming his way across the main room to fling open Jack's bedroom door.

Jack had been lying down on his side on his small bed, fighting the urge to cry, but the moment that Tobias came waltzing inside his room looking ready to skin him alive, the poor boy shot straight up in bed and tried to stop himself from feeling terrified. Feeling emotions led to accidents with his powers, after all. He had to do all he could to repress his fear.

"Dad…?" he softly croaked.

"You were talking to them!" Tobias yelled, stomping forward to drag his son off the bed so that he was cowering before him on his feet. "Your sister and the crown princess! Does learning to maintain control of those god damned powers mean nothing to you, Boy?!"

"Of course it does!" Jack quickly replied, resisting the urge to try backing fearfully away. "I don't want to hurt anyone else! I didn't mean to talk to them, honest! They… They just—"

"No excuses, Jack!" his father thundered. "They were inviting you to play! You have to always refuse them!"

Tears sprung forth from Jack's eyes. He tried to prevent them from falling, but his efforts were in vain, and fat droplets of salty water began running down his face.

"I was trying to, Dad! Really, I was!"

As Jack cried, his ice and snow magic spun out of control. His powers fought their way through the thick leather barricade the boots on his feet provided, and light amounts of ice began to spread across the floor. Jack's fear spiked majorly when he saw the ice, but Tobias's rage increased tenfold. His fist slammed into Jack's cheek, and Jack had to bite down so hard on his tongue he could taste blood in order to hold in a yell.

"You're using that witchcraft now?! Stop it at once! Control it!"

Jack gulped, but didn't even hesitate to do as his father asked as he tried to stop his tears and become an emotionless body once again. Feel nothing. Have no emotions. Be a blank slate. But it was no use. His ice refused to stop spreading around the room, and seeing that only made Jack's anxiety skyrocket. He sobbed with fear and worry as the ice thickened, and even a light amount of snow began to fall directly above his head, landing softly on his head and shoulders.

Jack whimpered when he saw all the ice and snow. "Dad… I'm sorry! I don't mean to make all this—"

He was cut off by Tobias grabbing his arm, and shoving him hard into the small dresser in the corner.

Jack's whole body shouted out in pain as he whacked into the corner of the piece of furniture, but when he slipped and landed hard on his arm as he fell down on the wooden floorboards, pain shot through his entire limb near his elbow and Jack was unable to muffle his agonized yell.

"Dad! My arm!" he sobbed through his new, pain-filled tears.

But Tobias just shook his head in disgust at his son cowering down at his feet. There was a long pause as he simply glared at Jack, but then a strange look came across his face. It seemed as though he had finally come to some sort of decision.

"I've had enough of this nonsense," he muttered.

And then, with one last furious shake of his head, Tobias spun around on his heel, and left Jack sobbing on the floor as he marched right out of the room, slamming the bedroom door shut behind him.

For the longest time after his father had abandoned him there on the floor, Jack didn't dare to move. He just stayed curled up there on the floor in a tiny ball, cradling his injured elbow to his chest as more ice and snow continued materializing around him. He fought the urge to cry so as to make the ice and snow stop, but the pain in his arm was so intense it was impossible to stop the tears. He was pretty sure his arm wasn't broken badly at least, because the bones weren't jutting out at weird angles, but he was still quite certain that there was something seriously wrong, because this pain went beyond the pain that a typical bruise would generally leave behind. Common sense told Jack that he ought to go and find help, but from beyond the door, he could hear his father thumping about through the apartment and what sounded like furniture being shifted around. After everything that had happened just now, Jack wasn't willing to risk Tobias's wrath again by opening the door.

Trying to muffle his tears, Jack reluctantly pulled off one of his gloves with his teeth, made his hand icy cold, and then sucked in a small hiss as he put his hand on his elbow for a little while before taking a few moments to ice his bruised cheek.

His mother would be back soon hopefully.

When she did, she would go and get him a doctor.

He just had to sit tight and wait patiently until then.

* * *

It was many hours before Jack heard the apartment door open, and the sound of two pairs of footsteps entering the narrow living space.

"Mommy! Can we go ice skating with Princess Elsa, Princess Anna, and Jamie and the others again tomorrow?"

There was a hearty laugh from Kirsten. "That depends, Sweetheart. I'm sure Jamie and the rest of your friends would love to go play in the snow with you tomorrow, but the princesses might be busy. They have very important duties to attend to, you know."

"Oh, okay…"

It sounded like Emma and their mother had a fun afternoon playing outside today with Emma's friends and Elsa and Anna. Despite the pain still coursing through his elbow and cheek, Jack couldn't help but feel a tad bit jealous. He wanted to be out there playing and having fun with his sister and her friends, all the while being chaperoned by their loving mother. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to have these horrible powers?

His musings were cut off when a choked shout of horror erupted from his mother's throat. "Tobias! What is going on?!"

Jack dried his tears with the sleeve of his good arm, did his best to slide his white silk glove back onto his exposed hand again with his teeth, and struggled to get to his feet. He had felt so blue and sorry for himself for the past few hours since his father had hurt him, he hadn't paid all that much attention to all the thumping sounds Tobias had been making outside in the living room. What had he been up to all this time?

With a small nervous gulp at the prospect of being either yelled at again or of what he might see on the other side of the door, Jack sucked up his courage and opened his bedroom door wide enough to poke his head outside and see what was going on.

Emma was clutching onto their mother's hand as she stared in obvious confusion before her.

Kirsten had a look of complete disbelief and shock on her face as one hand slowly rose upwards to cover her mouth.

Tobias was sitting on the small couch with at least two sacks filled with unknown items at his feet, and he was glaring hatefully at a spot on the wall with all his might, as though if he scowled at it long enough, he would drill a hole through it with his hatred alone.

After a long pause, Tobias finally turned his head to shift his glare to his wife.

"I've put up with this nonsense with Jack long enough, Kirsten," he said in a cruel tone. "I've had enough of it!"

For the longest time, Kirsten didn't speak. She seemed to be in a state of shock, but then she seemed to remember the fact that Emma was standing right beside her, and she slowly turned her head towards Jack's door. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw her son's teary face leaning out of his bedroom, but she tried to collect herself so as to remain calm.

"Jack? Take Emma into your room for a little while," she said, trying to keep her voice at a level tone. If not for her sake, then for her children's sake.

With a thick gulp, Jack shook his head. "I… I can't, Mom…"

"Jack, this is important. I have full confidence that nothing will happen. Please come and take Emma. Your father and I have to—"

"I need a doctor, Mom!"

Those words halted Kirsten right in her tracks, and she quickly focused all her attention on her eldest child, trying to hide himself as best as he could in the crack of the doorway.

Tobias's glare increased tenfold upon hearing what Jack had just said, and his sharp gaze zeroed in on his son, making Jack flinch away from him and shut the crack in the doorway slightly so as to avoid his father's furious gaze.

"You shut up, Jack! You stay in there and keep that god damned mouth of yours shut!" Tobias ordered. "I've had enough of your nonsense and if you know what's good for you, you stay in there—"

"Jack, come out here where I can get a good look at you," Kirsten interrupted. Her words were strong, but it was impossible to miss the slight tremor in her voice. She was clearly terrified of what she might see once she fully examined her only son.

Tobias fumed. "Stay in that room if you know what's good for you, Boy!" he warned.

"No, Jack. Come out here and look at me," Kirsten pleaded.

Tiny Emma had no idea what was going on exactly, but she clung to the skirts of her mother's green servant dress tightly as she gazed back and forth between her furious father and her terrified big brother. She didn't understand what was happening, but she wanted the tension in the room to go away. She didn't like the way her mother was gripping her small hand so tight, it felt like she was going to break her fingers.

Jack hesitated for several moments as he debated about which parent he should listen to. His mother who had always done right by him, or his father who would undoubtedly beat him senseless later should he dare to disobey him? Finally, he opened his bedroom door wider and stepped fully out of his room so his mother could get a good look at his bruised face and see the way he was still cradling the arm with the injured elbow.

Kirsten's eyes became wide saucers as she stared in horror of what her husband had done to their son, but then her eyes became stony cold.

"Jack? Take Emma and go to the doctor's apartment. His quarters are right down the hall. Tell him to have his wife go fetch King Agnar and Queen Idun."

But Jack's heart missed a beat out of fear of being around anyone else for a long period of time. "But… Mom, I—"

"Jack, do as you're told! Take Emma and go have the doctor fix you up!"

Jack jumped. His mother generally never yelled, but this time she did. But even as she spoke to him, Kirsten's attention was not focused on him, but rather on Tobias. She was turning red in the face as she glowered at her husband. Before now, Jack never knew his mother could be so angry, but her expression was of absolute loathing as she glared at his father. And Jack knew that despite his lack of control over his cursed magic, she was not in the mood to dispute with him over going to find the doctor himself and taking Emma along with him out of the apartment.

He finally forced himself to nod. "Okay, Mom," he said quietly.

He started to shuffle forward to gesture to Emma to follow him back out into the hall again, but Tobias's shouts quickly forced him to a halt.

"Don't go out there, Jack! Get back into your room this second and—"

"You do not speak to my son that way, Tobias!" Kirsten quickly shouted, crossing the room to shield Jack from Tobias's line of sight. "You do not talk to him! You do not look at him! You are to never come near him or my daughter again!"

"Come again, Kirsten?!" Tobias growled.

Emma still wasn't a hundred percent sure what was happening, but she shrank back against the back wall anyway, clearly scared of all the shouting voices. Jack was scared himself and still in pain from his injuries, but his thoughts were preoccupied on trying to keep the frost and ice coating the interior of his gloves from soaking through the cloth barrier and start shooting out all over the room.

He had to be emotionless.

 _Conceal, don't feel…_

 _Conceal, don't feel…_

 _Conceal, don't feel…_

Kirsten's eyes quickly zeroed back in on him, and he snapped out of his train of thought. "Jack, take Emma and go. _Now,"_ she ordered.

Jack jumped a bit again, but then hastily nodded and crossed the rest of the expanse of the room and gestured for Emma to follow him.

"Come on, Emma," he whispered.

He didn't dare take Emma's hand in his out of fear of losing control, but he did the best to fight through the pain he was experiencing to give his little sister the nicest, friendliest smile he could muster. Emma didn't hesitate to follow him, she was so scared and confused. She gazed fearfully at her parents one last time, and then scrambled after Jack into the hall.

Jack said nothing to Emma as he led her to the apartment of the only doctor in the castle. The faster the doctor fixed his elbow and did something about the bruise on his cheek, the sooner he could return to the safety of his bedroom. He couldn't afford to lose his focus. Losing control of his emotions for even a second could put Emma and everyone else in this castle in mortal peril. He had to ignore the anxious feelings rising in his chest from the thought of leaving his mother alone to deal with his abusive father and take carefully planned steps to the doctor's apartment.

When Jack knocked on the physician's door and did his best to explain what had happened to the doctor and his wife, the couple hastily ushered him and Emma in before splitting up, the doctor tending to Jack's injuries while the wife went to relay what had happened to the king and queen. Emma sat off to the side and watched with wide eyes as the fellow castle employee poked and prodded at her big brother's elbow with gentle fingers, but that didn't stop Jack from wincing with pain after every other nudge the doctor made. Finally, the physician concluded that while Jack's arm wasn't broken, he had definitely sprained his elbow when he fell, and he had to put Jack's arm into a sling to make sure he didn't move the arm for a while. He tried to convince the twelve-year-old to take off his glove on his injured arm, claiming it would make his hand sweat while being in the sling with his arm, but Jack stubbornly refused. He would take no chances at all with his secret powers, not even if keeping his hands covered meant that he would be uncomfortable for the next week and a half while his elbow healed.

By the time his elbow was suspended with the soft cloth brace and the physician had provided him with some ice out of his ice box to deal with the swelling on his cheek, Kirsten Overland still hadn't shown up, and neither had King Agnar and Queen Idun.

"Where's Mommy?" Emma piped up after the doctor had handed Jack the ice. "Why isn't she here? And why was she so mad at Daddy?"

It took all the willpower Jack possessed not to freeze up. Literally. He did not want to be the one to explain to his sweet and innocent little sister what their father had been doing to him for the past four years ever since his accident with his powers, and that their mother had just found out about it.

The physician seemed to read his thoughts. "Why don't I go and find out?" he suggested.

Jack's head whipped around. He couldn't be left alone with Emma. So long as there was one other person in the room, he wouldn't be quite so anxious being in this close proximity to his sister.

"You… You don't have to go…" he whimpered out, his own words sounding rather pathetic to his ears.

"It's no trouble at all, really. You kids sit tight. I'll be back soon."

And just like that, before Jack could say anything further in protest, the doctor upped and left the room, leaving him and Emma completely alone.

For a long time, Jack didn't anything, nor did he give into the urge to just glance over at Emma sitting on a chair off to the side. He had to stay absolutely focused on his mantra.

 _Conceal, don't feel._

 _Conceal, don't feel._

 _Be the good boy you always have to be._

 _Don't let anyone know._

"Big Brother? Why was Daddy so mad at you and Mommy?"

Jack nearly jumped up out of his seat on the couch as he spun around. Emma was looking at him with big, curious eyes as she swung her dangling legs back and forth on her chair. She looked so innocently confused by all that was going on, that Jack knew he couldn't tell her the truth. He might be a failure of a big brother when it came to all the extremes he went to in avoiding Emma just to keep her safe from his horrible powers, but he could be a good older sibling to her with this and not mentally scar her the way that he was already forever scarred.

"I… I did something bad, Emma, that's all," he said, doing his best to sound dismissive just so she wouldn't continue trying to talk to him. "Mom and Dad were just arguing over whether or not to punish me."

"Oh."

There was another stretch of uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Emma was clearly at a loss for words, but Jack just felt grateful for the lack of conversation. He hated seeming mean by constantly pushing away his only sibling whenever she tried to open up to him, but he had no choice. Emma had to be protected.

The silence was soon broken by a small, tired yawn.

Jack was genuinely surprised to hear the sound, and glanced back over at the small girl. Emma was fighting back another yawn by struggling to clamp her lips together as she rubbed her brown eyes with her tiny fist. It had been such a long day for the little girl, and she was clearly wiped out.

"Tired?" he reluctantly asked.

Emma's head drooped a bit as she nodded. "Mm-hmm," she groaned.

"Trade places with me. You can sleep a bit on the couch."

Jack did his best to avoid making eye contact with Emma as she slowly slid off her chair and dragged her feet over to the small loveseat that he had been sitting on all this time. As soon as Emma had settled herself down on the plush couch and was stretching out so she could close her eyes and get some rest, Jack scrambled to his feet and hastily made his way across the room to sit on the chair that she had just vacated.

Despite how tired his four-year-old sister was, Emma frowned when she saw him move away from her. "Can't I lay with my head on your lap, Jackie?" she sleepily mumbled.

Jack clenched his thankfully gloved hands as he shook his head. "No, Emma," he said rather simply. He wasn't going to make any excuses as to why he was denying her this. He couldn't let his sister touch him. He didn't trust himself.

Emma frowned at him. She didn't understand why her big brother always avoided her so much. Why did he never want to spend any time with her? Princess Elsa and Princess Anna were siblings, but they were so much closer than she and Jack were. Sometimes, the little girl had to wonder if she and Jack would ever have a close relationship like the princesses did.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me a story?"

Jack blinked. He hadn't been expecting her to ask him that. He was quiet for a few moments as he weighed the pros and cons of obliging her simple request in his head. Telling Emma a simple bedtime story was certainly not harmful to her. He could remain sitting here in this chair all the way on the other side of the room and she would not be in any danger from his powers. Plus, it would be the least he could do for his little sister. Since he had to maintain minimal contact with Emma just to ensure her safety from his wretched ice and snow powers, there was very little he could do for her to let her know how much he honestly loved her. But on the other hand, doing a small gesture such as this might give her the wrong idea. He didn't want to get her hopes up that he was coming out of his shell and that he would always be around to give her hugs and kisses…

What should he do?

After a few seconds of weighing the dilemma, he finally came to a decision. He would break his rules for one night and tell his sister a bedtime story. It would just be a one-time deal, but still he would go against his instincts and do something nice for Emma. If it turned out that he would never be able to control his powers and took the secret that he could conjure ice and snow out of thin air to his grave, let his little sister have one good memory of him where he actually acted like a big brother to her. Just for once, Jack wanted Emma to know that he really did care about her at the end of the day.

"Yeah, sure. All right," he told her.

Emma's little face promptly lit up. "Yay! What story will you tell me, Jack?" she whispered eagerly through her drowsiness.

Jack didn't respond right away, as he had to think up a good story to be able to tell her. He glanced out the window at the nighttime sky outside, but then his eyes fell upon the round, silver orb of the full moon hanging in the black, starry night sky. And then, almost like magic, a silly little story came to his mind. He didn't know what made him think up such a story, but he did, and Jack knew that it was the perfect story to tell his little sister.

"Well, did you ever hear the story about the boy who fell from the sky?" he asked.

Emma blinked, but then promptly shook her head.

"Well, a long time ago, there was a boy who fell right out of the sky and landed on earth. He had no memory of who he was or where he came from or why he fell from the sky in the first place. His only clue to his past was that he had the power of moonbeams at his disposal."

"Moonbeams?"

"He could control moonlight."

"Oh!"

"Well anyway, the Moonbeam Boy wandered the earth for years and years, never aging, but also never being seen, as humans never believed in him, and the only way people could see him was if they believed in him. He longed to find someone who could believe in him so he could be seen by someone. Anyone. But then one day, he did find someone!"

"He did? Really?"

"Uh-huh. He met a girl named Katherine. Katherine and the Moonbeam Boy spent all their time together, playing and having loads and loads of fun! But one day, another supernatural person came to earth."

"Did Katherine and the Moonbeam Boy become friends with them?"

Jack shook his head. "No, this person wasn't the friendly sort. He was intent on destroying it and ridding the world of fun and games forever. The Moonbeam Boy knew that the only way to protect Katherine as well as the rest of the people on earth was if he fought the evil being."

"He won, didn't he?! The Moonbeam Boy won, right?"

"Yeah, he won. The evil man was defeated, but at a heavy price. The Moonbeam Boy lost his human body over the course of the battle."

Emma gasped, and then her eyes started watering. She was clearly horrified to hear this.

"Hey, Emma! Don't be upset! It's just a story!"

"But… it's so sad! The Moonbeam Boy should have lived happily ever after with Katherine! That's how stories are supposed to end!"

Hearing those few short sentences brought a bittersweet smile to Jack's face. Yeah, his sister was probably right about that, but unfortunately, life was not a fairy tale. There was no such thing as happily ever after. Especially not for him. He was the monster that everyone fears in the children's stories. He shouldn't even exist.

But it's not like he could tell his four-year-old sister any of that. He was doomed to live a life of complete isolation from others, but she still had a chance of being happy someday. Let her enjoy the wonder and dreams of an idealistic world made up in fairy tales for a few more years before reality caught up to her the way that it had already caught up to him.

Let her believe that happily ever after's do exist in this world.

Even if they don't exist for him.

"Well, don't get too upset, Emma. The Moonbeam Boy isn't gone. I mean, not really…"

"Hmm?"

"His body might be gone, but his spirit still lives. It's always searching for another good human soul to join with his own, that way he can try and find Katherine again. Because only when the two of them are together will the Moonbeam Boy ever truly be happy and have fun again."

"Is there any way I can help him, Jackie? I want to help the Moonbeam be happy again! I want to help him find Katherine!"

"Well… he has to find people who believe in him first. Because he'll never find another good soul to bind to his own if he doesn't find another believer first. If you believe in him, Emma, I'm sure you can help him. Do you believe in him?"

"I do! I do! I do believe in the Moonbeam Boy! I do!"

Jack smiled. His sister was so sweet. She deserved to have a brother who could safely hug her and kiss her without fear of hurting her. She deserved someone ten times better than him.

"That's good to hear… Now, go to sleep, okay? Time for bed."

"'Kay, good night, Big Brother…"

Emma smiled at him one last time, but then she slowly shut her eyes as she laid her head on one of the couch pillows. Within minutes, she was out like a light.

Jack wanted so badly to get up off his chair and move to sit next to her on the couch, letting her use his lap as a pillow as she had initially proposed, or at the very least be able to drape a small blanket over her sleeping body, but he didn't dare move.

He could feel his fingers turning to ice inside his gloves.

He had allowed himself to feel happy for a few minutes while he told Emma the story, and now his ice was trying to resurface again.

He couldn't afford to be happy.

He had to remain emotionless.

He had to be a blank slate.

Be the good boy he always had to be.

Conceal, don't feel.

Put on a show.

Let no one know.

Because one wrong move, and everyone will know.

* * *

After several hours of waiting around for someone to come for them, the door to the apartment finally opened.

Jack jolted awake from the restless nap he had been taking over the course of waiting, and was surprised when he saw the doctor and his wife coming back into the room, followed closely behind by his mother, and the king and queen.

"Jack!" Kirsten cried. She crossed the room in a few frantic strides and moved to hug him, but Jack quickly leaned away from her touch. Between everything that happened to him today with his abusive father and his fear of hurting his mother with his ice and snow, he automatically shied away from her touch. He was not going to risk hurting the one parent he had that had always loved him unconditionally, not hating him the slightest because of his powers.

Kirsten was taken aback by how her son shied away from her embrace, but she shook it aside after a moment. Considering what her horrible husband had done to him, she couldn't blame Jack for resisting physical contact right now. He still had to be in shock over what happened!

"Jack, look at me! Look at me, Sweetie!" his mother begged. "Are you okay?!"

Jack listlessly nodded. "My arm still hurts, but I'm okay…" he mumbled. "Keep your voice down. Emma's asleep."

He nodded in the direction of Emma's sleeping form huddled up on the couch, and the adults all glanced at her momentarily before turning their attention back to Jack.

"Jack?" said King Agnar, he and Queen Idun stepping further into the room so as to see Jack better. "I'm so sorry that that happened to you. Really, if we'd known—"

"I'm okay, honest," said Jack shortly, doing his best to fight the tears that were threatening to cloud his vision. He couldn't afford to become a weeping mess and cling onto his mother as he sobbed over how his father had sprained his elbow. He had to stay cool. Emotionless. He couldn't afford to let his powers go haywire.

Queen Idun seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking, because she quickly turned to address the physician. "Can he return to his room?" she politely inquired. "I think we should get him to bed."

"He'll be fine. Just have him avoid doing any two-handed jobs for the next week or two. That elbow of his needs time to heal. And just be sure to ice it."

Jack and the other three adults fought the urge to exchange awkward glances from hearing that last comment. Icing his sprained elbow wouldn't be a problem at all. Not in the slightest.

Kirsten gathered her sleeping four-year-old daughter in her arms, and then motioned for Jack to come along as King Agnar and Queen Idun led the way out of the physician's apartment. They all made it back to the Overland family compartment without any problems, but when Kirsten unlocked the door and kindly gestured for Agnar and Idun to go in first and then Jack, Jack refused to go inside.

"I… I don't want to go back in," he said slowly. "I don't want to see Dad…"

The adults all blinked, and then exchanged unreadable expressions.

Jack didn't understand what their expressions meant, but before he could question them, Kirsten was bending down to his level as best as she could while still carrying Emma.

"Jack… you don't have to worry about that, okay? He won't hurt you anymore. He will _never_ hurt you again!"

"W-What?"

"Your father had been preparing to leave all of you earlier when your mother came back with your sister," King Agnar cut in. "But after your mother saw what he had done to you… she had you tell the doctor's wife to come and get me and Idun so that we could have him lawfully banished. He's currently on a boat being sent away from Arendelle. He'll never hurt you again."

For the longest time, Jack simply stared at all of them in disbelief, not processing what he had just been told.

His father was gone…

Banished from the kingdom…

And all because of him…

It was too much for Jack, and within seconds he was bolting through the door to get back to his bedroom and slam the door shut behind him. His magic was bursting to get free again, and this time, he knew for a fact he couldn't hold it back.

The adults quickly ran through the apartment after him, Kirsten pausing only for a moment to deposit the still peacefully sleeping Emma down on the couch before continuing after her poor son. Together, she and the monarchs all politely knocked on the wood of the door before letting themselves right into Jack's bedroom.

Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun were in for quite a shock when they saw just how bad Jack's reaction was to finding out about Tobias's fate.

Jack had planted himself into a back corner of the room and was full out sobbing as snow appeared on the floor near his feet, and the entire back walls that he was leaning up against became coated in thick amounts of crystal clear ice. For the longest time, Jack ignored his mother and the monarchs as he continued to cry. He just couldn't stop the tears. Tobias had never been the father of the year to him, but to Jack, he was still his father. And now, just because he had to be born with his horrible powers, his father was forever banished from Arendelle. He had ruined not only his father's life, but his mother's and Emma's, too. His mother would be forever separated from her husband now, and Emma would grow up never knowing her father. He truly was a monster…

"Jack!" Kirsten cried out in alarm, she and the king and queen finally overcoming their initial shock and moving closer into the room to be face to face with the distressed boy. "Jack, it's all right!"

Jack ignored her as he wiped his runny nose on the sleeve of his only working arm. "I'm… I'm sorry, Mom…" he whimpered out. "I ruined everything!"

Within seconds, Kirsten was on her knees on the floor to look her son right in the eye.

"Jack, look at me… _Look at me!"_ she demanded.

Reluctantly, Jack forced his eyes to meet his mother's, and she looked at him with such desperation on her face, it was impossible for the boy to assume that she was speaking anything but the truth.

"You are not to blame for what your father did, do you understand me?" she spoke desperately. "That… That was not your fault! It will never be considered your fault! It's my fault for not realizing that Tobias was a violent man and that I should have left him ages ago! Blame me if you want to blame someone, but not yourself! _Never_ yourself! You are not to blame!"

Queen Idun nodded in agreement. "Your mother is right, Jack," she said kindly. "You did nothing wrong. Your father was in the wrong to hurt you like that, not you. Do not think for even a second that you deserved what happened."

"But you need to calm down, Jack," King Agnar politely reminded him, gesturing to the ice on the walls and the snow that was on the floor. "Your powers are going haywire again."

It was so hard to get Jack to calm down from his small emotional breakdown and get all the ice and snow to stop forming, but after several minutes Jack finally managed to seal off all his emotions again and feel completely numb once again. The ice and snow didn't exactly melt, but no more appeared either. Given the situation, that was the best that the three adults could hope for.

Jack fought the urge to start full out sobbing again when he realized just how much ice and snow had appeared during his few minutes' worth of crying. "I'm… I'm scared!" he gasped out. "It's getting stronger! It's so hard to keep it in!"

A few stray tears slid down his cheeks before he could stop them. King Agnar quickly stepped forward, his hands held out in front of him as though he was trying to approach a frightened or injured animal.

"Jack, listen to us. Getting upset only makes it worse."

Kirsten nodded as she reached out to try and give him a loving hug. "That's right. Just calm down…"

Just as she was about to wrap her arms around him, Jack's eyes went wide.

"No! Don't touch me!" he nearly shouted, immediately recoiling as far back as he could and bumping backwards into the ice-covered wall.

His mother and the king and queen definitely hadn't been expecting him to react that way, because his shout made all three of them hastily back away a bit.

Seeing the hurt look in all three of their faces, Jack stared up at them rather apologetically, but couldn't keep his fear completely out of his voice as he explained himself.

"Please, I… I've already hurt Elsa and Anna and scared Emma… I don't want to hurt you or make you scared of me!"

Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun all gazed sadly at Jack. They wanted to comfort him. They truly did, but how could they when it was clear that Jack didn't want to be given any type of physical comfort from now on out of fear of what he could do?

It was truly a no win situation.

When they finally told him to try and get some sleep and left him for the night, Jack climbed into bed as more tears sprung forth from the corners of his eyes.

Part of him wanted the silly little story that he told Emma to be real.

He wished he could be the Moonbeam Boy.

Because maybe if he was, he could safely be with his sister and friends again.

* * *

But unfortunately, life was no fairy tale.

Time continued to tick past for Jackson Overland, with no change whatsoever in finding a way to have complete control over his powers, and before he knew it, three more years had gone by. Despite having unexplainable ice and snow powers and still being able to occasionally talk to the wind, he was now a perfectly healthy fifteen-year-old boy, if still lonely and desperate for a connection with those he cared about.

Ever since Tobias had been banished from the castle, he had taken it upon himself to try and step up in his duties around the castle. Even though the adults always told him that Tobias beating him had not been his fault, Jack couldn't help but blame himself. After all, if he had never existed, the Overland family would still have their main source of income. Kirsten had tried to explain to Jack repeatedly that his taking up more servant duties wasn't necessary, but Jack had been very insistent. He wanted to help her bring more money into the household so that she wouldn't have to work so hard. Eventually, Kirsten conceded, but only on the condition that he learn regular servant work in the castle so that he wasn't completely alone anymore while working in the stables.

Polishing fine silver.

Dusting off expensive furniture in the various rooms of the castle.

Bringing food to the royal family at meal times.

That sort of thing.

Jack had been initially unwilling to agree to her one request to his offer to help out more, as he truly feared the possibility of losing control of his magic at some point while working in the castle, but Kirsten and even the king and queen had assured him that they truly believed in his ability to control himself and that nothing would go wrong. And so, with great reluctance, Jack agreed to his mother's wish and alternated his days between working in the stables and tending to the animals with days where he was beginning his training as a castle butler.

Being a butler was very difficult to the poor boy. A butler had to be always in sight, but still never seen. Always waiting in the wing to be given orders from their employer, but never looming right over people's heads. Being able to anticipate people's needs before they thought of them, but never trying to seem like a know-it-all.

Calm and reserved.

Polite and well mannered.

Dressed to the nines at every occasion.

Diligent and responsible.

If there was ever a job that Jack truly hated, it was being a butler.

There wasn't much left of the carefree little boy that had, in another lifetime, thought that his magic was the greatest thing in the world and would play and run around the castle in the middle of the night alongside the royal princesses for fun and games, but the little that remained of the eight-year-old Jackson Overland hated all the rules and manners he had to learn to maintain good etiquette in his new secondary position. Plus, the way he now had to present himself around the castle while in his new role was stifling. The traditional green Arendelle servant uniform jacket, the white button shirt underneath, and the white ruffled neckerchief must always be wrinkle-free and spotless, and the itchy black pants must be freshly pressed with an iron every morning or else creases would appear in them. Plus, instead of wearing his hair the way he wanted to, messy and wild, his mother now insisted that he comb it back neatly in a rather reserved appearance.

Add his usual white gloves into the look, and he looked like a well-groomed and well-mannered castle servant.

And his powers hated it.

The more Jack went against his own instincts to have fun and play games, the more his magic fought against the natural barriers of woven silk and well-made leather to shoot out of his hands and feet and materialize in every direction. The older he became, the stronger the ice and snow became. It didn't want to stay concealed, hidden away from the world, but Jack refused to let it be free. No one else was going to be hurt because of him. Not again. Never again. He had to ignore the ice and frost that formed inside his gloves every time his emotions spiked and he forgot to be emotionless and force himself back into his usual mantra: _Conceal, don't feel. Don't let them know._

But what was even stranger to Jack than the fact that his ice and snow was constantly fighting against his resistance to be allowed to roam free was his connection to the wind.

Ever since he heard the wind seemingly whisper to him that day when Tobias finally took his violence against him too far, Jack had always been able to talk to the wind. He could hear its voice whispering to him every time he stepped outside the palace to do his work out in the stables and the pastures. Truth be told, the wind was really the only thing that Jack felt safe around these days. The wind was a nonliving creature, and therefore it could not be harmed by him. While working out in the fields tending to the castle livestock, he would often talk to the gentle breeze in the air. Sometimes he would just vent out his frustrations about what a mess his life was thanks to both his powers and the fact that he secretly believed himself to be somewhat insane in the head because he was actually talking to seemingly no one but the air as he told the wind his innermost secrets, but other times, he would stay silent and just listen to whatever the wind wanted to tell him.

The wind was quite possibly the closest thing that Jack had to an actual friend anymore due to his need for complete isolation, but if there was one thing that the fifteen-year-old boy disliked about his crazy imaginary friend – that he admitted to himself was quite possibly the living proof that he was not right in the head after so many years of being forced to live in isolation – it was the fact that it was always trying to convince him to leave the castle.

It was always telling him that staying in the castle was dangerous for him, that something evil was coming for him, and that if he ran now, there might be a chance that he could outrun it. Not to mention that staying in the palace was dangerous for his magic. If he continued to live in the castle while suppressing his natural affinity to the ice and snow, then there was a chance that he would never learn to use them to his full potential.

But Jack never listened to the wind when it told him that. For one, what were the odds that there was indeed something evil stalking him? He, Jackson Overland, was already the evilest person he knew thanks to his stupid powers – excluding his long gone father, of course. And two, Jack had no interest in learning how to fully tap into his powers unless that meant learning how to thaw out his ice, which he had yet to figure out how to do. But since that wasn't exactly possible for him, Jack knew he had to stay here in his sanctuary in the castle and remain hidden away from the rest of the world.

He was a strong boy. He could keep his powers a secret.

He could keep them a secret forever.

"Jack? I'm running a little slow today. Can you help me bring these dinner trays to the dining room?"

"Yes, Mom. No trouble at all."

He gathered one of the two dinner trays that the castle chef presented him and his mother, and followed her out of the palace kitchens and up a flight of servant stairs to find the royal family's private dining room. Today was one such day that he had been acting as a traditional servant around the castle rather than a stable hand. He hated the days when he was forced to be around other people in the castle when he performed his butler duties, and there was only one thing that made the many hours of worrying about staying an emotionless body all worthwhile in the end.

Elsa.

Although Jack was forbidden to spend time with Elsa or Anna out of fear of what he could do to them, that didn't stop Jack from noticing her as he grew older. Especially after he turned fourteen. Even before he had accidentally hurt her and Anna during the incident with his powers back when he was eight-years-old, he had always been curious about her, but now, as a boy going through his teenage years, he noticed her in a different way. He was always trying to find excuses to watch her without her or anyone else knowing it. Peering at her from around corners or behind castle pillars, gazing at her outside from behind the thick glass that made up his bedroom window, lingering behind for a few extra moments whenever he was cleaning something in a room and she happened to come in.

He had a crush on her.

Still though, his feelings had to be kept to himself.

Not only was revealing what he felt for Elsa dangerous for her, but it was also a rather silly dream.

Princesses don't marry the castle servants, after all.

He and Kirsten continued their way down the halls to reach the private dining room, but then a high-pitched, happy voice shouted out to them from down the hall.

"Big Brother! Mommy!"

Kirsten and Jack stopped and turned. Emma was running up to the two of them with Jamie and their circle of friends hurrying after her. She had turned seven not too long ago, but she was still just as sweet as she been when she was four. Her pretty brown hair had grown a bit longer and she had definitely become taller, but other than that, she still looked the same.

And her happy-go-lucky personality hadn't changed either.

She was still such a sweet child.

But that cheerfulness made it even more painful for Jack whenever he had to reject her when she asked him to come play with her.

Jack became as rigid as a statue as Kirsten quickly set her tray of food down on a side table to give her daughter a hug. "Hi, Sweetpea. Are you having fun playing with your friends?"

Emma enthusiastically nodded. "Yep! We were just giving little Sophie the grand tour of the castle! Right, Jamie?"

Jamie nodded as he held up the small bundle of blankets he had been cradling to his chest, revealing a sweet little face with a mop of bright blonde hair on top of its tiny head.

Jamie had become a big brother to a cute little sister a few weeks back, and already he was a doting big brother to her.

Jack had nothing against Jamie. If anything, he thought it was nice that Emma had a friend her own age that she could play and spend time with since he could fill that playmate role for her. But still… ever since little Sophie Bennett had been born, Jack couldn't help but be somewhat envious of the little kid.

Jamie Bennett would grow up to be a good brother to his little sister, the kind that would tell her stories and play games with her every day.

Whereas he, Jackson Overland, the boy cursed to hurt anyone and everyone with his wretched icy magic, had to stay away from his own little sister just to make sure she lived to see another day.

It was all so fucked up.

"Sophie's having a lot of fun! We just came back from touring the art gallery!" Jamie explained. "She and Emma actually have something in common now!"

"They do? Really?" Kirsten inquired. "What is it?"

"They both like the painting of Joan of Arc!" said Monty, his bright red glasses sliding a bit off the end of his nose as he waved his arms around with enthusiasm. "Sophie started giggling when she saw the painting, and then Emma started saying that one day, she was going to go on epic adventures and be a great hero when she's bigger!"

Jack fought the urge to chuckle when he heard that, but Kirsten let out a genuine laugh of amusement.

"Ah, is that so?" she asked Emma, tickling her nose a bit as she did.

Emma giggled. "Uh-huh! We all had a lot of fun! We're going to show little Sophie the gardens next! Come with us, Mommy! Jackie! Come with us! Come with us!"

Kirsten smiled at her daughter's infectious, cheerful smile, but she was forced to shake her head as she reached over to collect the tray she had set off to the side.

"I'm sorry, Emma, but Jack and I have to go and deliver this food to the royal family. They're waiting for dinner, after all!"

Emma's whole face became even brighter if that was possible, considering that she already appeared to be oh so happy. "Oh! Can I go with you and Jack, Mommy? Please? I wanna see Princess Elsa and Princess Anna!"

"Well…"

"I'll be good! I promise! No one will know I was there! Not even you!"

There was a long pause as Kirsten considered allowing her youngest child to tag along just so she could catch sight of the royals for a few minutes, but Jack secretly wished that his mother would tell her no. He didn't want to spend any more time with Emma than he needed to. In addition to not wanting to hurt her, he didn't want to give her any false hope that he was coming out of his shell and was willing to be the big brother she always dreamed of having. He made a mistake three years ago when he decided to tell her that stupid bedtime story about the Moonbeam Boy, because for at least two weeks after that fateful night, Emma had knocked on his bedroom door every night begging him to tell her the story again before she went to bed. It broke his heart to refuse her, but he had no choice but to do so. It was the only way to keep her safe. Giving Emma false hope was something that would wind up only hurting her in the end.

Unfortunately, Kirsten didn't share Jack's thought process, and she eventually nodded.

"All right. You may come."

"Yay! Here, Jackie! I'll carry the tray for you!"

Emma lunged forward to seize the tray of food from Jack's hands, but Jack nearly leaped backward several feet when her small hands came too close to brushing up against his white gloved ones.

"No! I… I can carry it myself, Emma," he said nervously, too afraid of what might happen should she touch one of his hands to remember to sound nice in his refusal to let her help him. He only realized just how rude and dismissive he must have sounded when his mother, Jamie, and the rest of the kids stared at him incredulously while Emma instantly flinched backwards, her face clearly showing just how hurt she was from how he had so cruelly rejected her.

Jack wanted so badly to tell her that he was sorry for snapping at her the way he did. He hated it whenever he was forced to act so cruel to Emma that she was brought close to tears. But still, the distance between them was a good thing. Although he didn't like the way he had to treat his only sister, if he snapped at her every now and then instead of just plain ignoring her the way he tried to in the past, perhaps it would give Emma more of an incentive to stop trying to connect with him the way she did. Her feelings as well as his own meant nothing to Jack so long as it meant she was still alive and kicking.

With a sigh, he averted his eyes from both Emma's and everyone else's dumbstruck faces, and then slowly continued on down the hall. The sooner he helped his mother to deliver this food to the dining room, the better. He needed to return to his bedroom again and cool down. It was becoming harder and harder to stay out of his bedroom for a full day without returning in the middle of his shifts around the castle to let out streams of ice in relative safety without anyone nearby to get hurt or find out about his powers.

Vaguely, Jack was aware that Kirsten was mumbling an apology on his behalf to Emma and the other kids before directing her to go ahead and take the second dinner tray from her and then follow his lead down the hall. He didn't hear Emma make any type of a reply to her though, and that made his heart twist up into painful knots. But still, he didn't stop and shoot Emma an apologetic look over his shoulder to silently tell her how sorry he was for hurting her feelings. He just gripped the tray tightly with his thankfully gloved hands and kept walking until he came to the door that led to the royal family's private dining hall.

Jack made sure to wait a few seconds to ensure that Emma and Kirsten had caught up with him, and then he knocked politely on the door before calmly turning the doorknob and showing himself in, making sure to keep the door propped for a few additional seconds as his sister and mother followed him inside.

While they had been waiting for dinner to arrive, Elsa and Anna had been chatting away happily with their parents about something funny that happened earlier during the girls' princess lessons, but the family of four quickly quieted down when they saw the Overlands enter.

Jack forced himself to keep a neutral expression on his face as he walked directly over to Elsa so as to gently place her plate of food down in front of her before moving to set Anna's food in front of her as well. His crush had bloomed into a beautiful teenager over the past few years. Elsa was fifteen like him, and her womanly curves had appeared not too long ago. She still chose to wear pretty blue dresses with rosemaling on the embroidery and her blonde hair pulled back in its usual windswept French braid, but her face had lost the last of its baby fat over the past year. She was a beautiful crown princess, but her beauty was secondary to the real reason why Jack liked her.

The first and foremost reason was all too simple.

She was there for Emma where he could not be.

She was acting as an older sibling to his sister in his place.

He was so grateful to Elsa and even Anna for taking his kid sister under their wings and showing her the love and affection he was forbidden to provide her with, even if neither of them understood why he denied his only sister the love and friendship with him that she so desperately wanted. Elsa stood up to the plate to care for Emma whenever she saw that Emma felt sad, and Anna, now a spritely twelve-year-old, eagerly tagged along to play whenever she had the opportunity.

But Jack could never properly thank either of them for what they did for Emma in his place.

To do so meant revealing why he had to keep his distance from everyone in this world.

And revealing his powers to anyone was completely out of the question.

"Your highnesses," he said respectfully and with a bowed head, ensuring that he avoided eye contact with Elsa and Anna.

Elsa stared at Jack as he served her and Anna without so much as looking at either of them. What had possessed her old friend to become like this? So emotionless and cold? What had happened to the wild and friendly little boy who would occasionally sneak into her and Anna's bedroom after dark to ask them to come and play? Granted, she and Anna had decided to have separate bedrooms not long after she had turned thirteen and Anna had long since come to the realization that Jack had absolutely no intention of being their friend again, but that didn't stop Elsa from hoping that Jack would open up to them again one day. She missed talking to him.

"Princess Elsa! Princess Anna! Hi!" chirped Emma, her face broken out into a beaming smile as she assisted her mother in setting the dinner plates down in front of King Agnar and Queen Idun.

Elsa's attention quickly shifted over to Emma, and she couldn't help but smile. Whatever the reason was for Jack closing himself off from all human interaction, at least that didn't stop Emma from being a sweet little girl.

"Good evening, Emma. How are you today?" Elsa asked with a smile.

"I'm good, Princess Elsa! I was just playing with Jamie and the others, but then I saw Mommy and Big Brother bringing your dinner, and I wanted to help!"

Anna giggled behind her hand. "You mean you came along just to see us?" she asked.

"Uh-huh! I like seeing both of you, Princess Elsa, Princess Anna!"

"Emma!" Kirsten hissed, seizing hold of her daughter's shoulder and pulling her back a few steps. "First rule of serving dinner! Never talk to those you are serving at a personal level! You have to be respectful!"

Queen Idun lightly laughed as she lightly waved away her loyal servant friend's words. "It's quite all right, Kirsten. None of us mind. In all honesty, it's refreshing to see that your daughter likes our daughters so much."

King Agnar heartily laughed while nodding at his wife's words. "Idun is right, Kirsten. Don't worry about Emma. We like her just the way she is."

"Just wish Jack would act the same way…"

All heads turned at once toward Anna. Anna seemed to have only just realized how loudly she had muttered those words, and she immediately looked apologetic as she locked eyes with Jack.

"I mean… I…"

"Anna!" Queen Idun snapped, her generally warm and caring eyes flashing furiously at her youngest child. "You apologize to Jackson!"

"Jack, I… I didn't mean to—"

"Please, enjoy your meal, your majesties, your highnesses," Jack interrupted, his face completely stoic as he bowed respectfully to the royals. "I'm sure you all will. The chef always prepares the best for the four of you."

And with that having been said, Jack turned on his heel and started heading back to the dining room doors, ignoring the bewildered stares from Elsa, Anna, and Emma, and the sad and apologetic looks from Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun. He had to get out of here. He was not only highly offended by Anna's snide remark, but he could feel his hands growing progressively colder inside his gloves. He needed some time back in his room again to get himself back into his usual numb, emotionless state.

Just as he was about to turn the doorknob to show himself out, the door suddenly opened, and the oversized body of the fellow servant Kai came hurrying inside. Jack quickly sidestepped out of the large man's way. He didn't want to risk the chance of the portly gentlemen possibly bumping into him and getting frostbite.

But Jack wasn't the only one there who was surprised by Kai's unexpected appearance. Kirsten quickly took Emma's hand in her own as she stared quizzically at the redhead hurrying to approach the king, and King Agnar and Queen Idun exchanged puzzled looks of their own before glancing back at Kai with obvious confusion. Elsa and Anna were entirely silent, but judging by their expressions, they too had no clue as to what was going on either.

"Kai?" questioned King Agnar. "Is something the matter?"

Kai merely held up a small envelope which he passed to his head employer. "We just received word from Corona, your majesty. From your sister to be exact."

Upon hearing about his younger sister, the Coronan queen, King Agnar's expression swiftly changed from confusion to undeniable worry.

"From Arianna?!" he gasped, quickly tearing open the envelope and fishing out the letter inside. Ever since the gates had been closed in an effort to try and protect Jack, Agnar had had very little contact with his younger sister, something that he sorely regretted. She was his only sibling, after all. But if Arianna was in some type of political trouble, like Corona was possibly on the brink of a war, Agnar would not hesitate to help her however he could. He would have the entire Arendelle military on ships bound for his sister's country by dawn tomorrow.

The Overlands all knew that they ought to politely excuse themselves so that the king could relate to his wife and daughters whatever news he had received from their extended family in Corona, but Jack was too nervous about the prospect of having almost bumped into someone to move, and Kirsten was frozen to her spot on the floor, still holding Emma's hand in her own. Just what was going on?

After a few tense minutes of absolute silence while King Agnar's eyes zoomed across the page, he finally set down the letter with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Agnar? Is everything all right?" Queen Idun asked with obvious worry.

When the king finally turned to look at his wife, a happy smile appeared on his face.

"Everything is wonderful, Idun! Everything is perfect! My sister is finally able to smile once again!"

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed his words. Then realization dawned them.

"Father? You're not saying that…?"

The king turned towards his eldest daughter and nodded with happy tears trickling down his cheeks. "Yes, Elsa. After fifteen years, your Aunt Arianna has finally been reunited with her lost daughter, yours and Anna's cousin."

Within seconds of hearing the wonderful news, Queen Idun's eyes filled with happy tears of her own, and Elsa and Anna exchanged wonderstruck expressions before staring eagerly at King Agnar. Even Emma looked excited as she gazed up at Kirsten, who absent-mindedly patted her daughter's small head as smiled happily toward her friend. She was beyond pleased to see Idun look so happy.

Jack said and did nothing from where he was still standing near the doors, but it would have been a lie to say that he did not share in everyone else's joy and surprise at hearing this news. It wasn't everyday after all that one learns that a princess who had been kidnapped and missing for the past fifteen years had finally been found, rescued, and had been reunited with her parents as well as restored to her throne.

"Our cousin the Lost Princess has been found?! Really, Father?!" Anna asked in obvious delight. "What's her name?!"

"It's Rapunzel, and in addition to the good news, your aunt and Uncle Frederic have invited the four of us to Corona to attend a special ceremony, as your cousin needs to be properly introduced to the other members of high society now that she's been returned to her kingdom."

Elsa quirked a brow at that. "I don't remember much about Uncle Frederic and Aunt Arianna before the gates were closed, Father, but I never took either of them for the sort to immediately marry off their daughter to the first suitor that takes an interest right after they found her again."

"Actually Elsa, your cousin only managed to be returned home because of the man that helped her, and according to this letter, she is very much in love with him. This really is just an introductory ceremony for her to meet other members of royalty, not a way for your aunt and uncle to play matchmaker."

Elsa's cheeks tinted pink. "Oh…"

"How soon can we leave, Father? I wanna meet our long lost cousin!" Anna exclaimed.

"Actually girls, I think it would be better if you stayed behind," Queen Idun cut in.

Dejected looks spread across Elsa and Anna's faces.

"What?! But why, Mother?!" Anna squealed.

"Because unless I'm mistaken, you girls have taken the liberty to skip quite a few princess lessons the past few weeks," their mother said pointedly. "If you girls had gone to those lessons, you would have learned the necessary etiquette skills required to attend such an event. But because you didn't…"

"Mother, can't we please go?" Elsa begged. "Anna and I will take extra lessons to make up for what we missed! We'll start right after dinner!"

"I'm sorry, girls, but your mother is right," King Agnar agreed. "Consider your missing this opportunity to meet your cousin a lesson as to what happens when you girls decide to skip your required princess lessons."

Jack had been watching this conversation commence rather mutely as he stood by the doors, but upon catching sight of his mother discretely motioning to Emma to follow her toward the doors, he snapped out of his thoughts and quietly opened the dining room door a crack. The three of them shouldn't just stand here listening to this. This was a private discussion between the king, the queen, and the princesses. The three of them had to leave.

Just as the Overlands were about to stealthily slip right out of the room, Queen Idun's voice halted the three of them right in their tracks.

"Wait! Just a moment, Kirsten!"

Kirsten, Jack, and Emma all turned. Queen Idun was smiling warmly at the Overland family matriarch as she politely waved her over. Kirsten obediently stepped forward as requested.

"Yes, Queen Idun?"

"I was simply wondering because you were already in the room… would you be interested in being one of the handmaidens to come along for Agnar's and my voyage to Corona for the event? If it's not too much trouble, that is?"

Although everyone else in the room saw no harm in the simple question, Jack felt nothing but absolute dread fill his chest when he heard the queen utter those words. He knew that Queen Idun meant no harm in simply asking his mother if she would be good enough to accompany her and her husband on the journey to their neighboring country and that they all had full faith in him that he could keep his powers safely contained after all these years, but Jack also knew for a fact that none of them were fully aware of how much willpower and concentration it was taking him these days to keep himself emotionless.

Please, if there were any types of gods or spirits out there, let his mother say no! Please let her say no!

Finally, Kirsten came to a decision over her reply to the queen, but unfortunately, it was not the reply that Jack had been silently begging to the heavens to hear.

"Of course, my queen. I would be delighted to accompany you both to Corona."

* * *

The king and queen wished to leave for Corona to witness their niece's official introduction to high society as soon as possible, and before the week was over, they had ordered for a ship prepared with several trunks filled with their provisions and gifts for their lost family member, and had a select number of guards and servants ready to accompany them across the sea to the German country.

Elsa and Anna both flew down the halls to their parent's grand bedroom, and hugged their mother and father tightly.

"We'll miss you, Mother, Father," Elsa said kindly. "You'll both be sure to tell Rapunzel that we wanted to meet her, right? And you'll give her the presents we had commissioned for her?"

"Of course, Elsa. I'm sure she'll love them," said Idun with a smile.

"And you'll both be back in two weeks, right?" Anna asked, her two red braids bouncing around a bit as she gazed up at her parents' faces. "You won't stay longer, will you? I'll miss you too much!"

Agnar laughed. "It's only a short trip, Anna. We'll be back before you know it!"

"Okay!"

"Can we at least walk with you both to the docks?" Elsa asked. "We haven't been outside the castle in so long! Please can we go?"

King Agnar and Queen Idun shared an unreadable look, but then shook their heads in unison.

"Normally, we'd say yes, Elsa, but it's already past time for you girls to be in class," said the king. "Remember, you girls lost the chance to go to Corona because you skipped too many of your princess lessons. You don't want to miss another opportunity to go and meet your cousin, do you?"

Anna made a pouty face. "And when will we get another chance to meet Rapunzel if the gates are always shut, huh?" she moped.

Idun laughed. "Well, nothing is set in stone yet, Anna, but if you girls work hard and things go well with your father and I during this trip, the four of us just may go and pay another visit to Corona over Christmas, or even have them come here for a visit."

Elsa's entire face glowed when she heard that. "Really, Mother? We might see Uncle Frederic and Aunt Arianna again and finally meet Rapunzel over Christmas?!" she asked eagerly.

"If things go well, maybe. _And_ if you girls work harder in your lessons," Agnar said sharply. "Do you both promise to work hard while we're gone?"

"Yes! We'll work very hard, Father!"

"We promise! We promise!"

"Good, good," said Idun, reaching forward and hugging her daughters one last time. "We love you both, Elsa, Anna,"

"We love you, too, Mother, Father," said Elsa, hugging her back warmly.

"To infinity and beyond!" chirped Anna, hugging their father as she spoke.

Agnar laughed. "See you in two weeks, girls," he said finally.

Elsa and Anna nodded with bittersweet smiles, and waved sadly as their parents signaled to Kai and Gerda to collect the last of their luggage before leading the way out of the bedroom. Now left alone in their parents' bedroom, Elsa and Anna hugged each other for comfort before making their way down the hall together for their long overdue princess lessons.

King Agnar and Queen Idun continued through the many winding hallways of the palace and down the grand staircase, smiling kindly to all the servants who took the time to stop and wish them safe travels for their journey. They were the beloved monarchs of their kingdom, and they would be sorely missed for the next two weeks while they were gone.

When they at last reached the main castle foyer, they spotted the select number of guards and servants that they appointed to accompany them also preparing the last of their luggage to leave. Near the main doors that led out to the castle's front courtyard, the monarchs briefly took notice of the father of another servant family, Erik Bennett, lovingly kissing his wife goodbye before hugging his son and patting his infant daughter's head.

"Can't I go with you to Corona, Dad? I wanna be an adventurer on a great ship!"

"That does sound like fun, Jamie, but if you came along, who would protect your mother and your little sister in my place? Who else would be the man of the house while I'm away?"

"I can do it! I'll take care of Mom and Sophie while you're gone! I'll do a good job!"

"I know you will, Sport. You be good, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Be safe, will you, Erik?"

"Of course, Olivia. I'll be sure to bring presents for all three of you."

"You'll bring back a toy for me, right, Dad?"

"'Course, Sport. Toys for both you and Sophie. Sophie? You be Mommy's little princess, okay? Okay."

"Bye, Dad!"

"I love you, Erik!"

Agnar and Idun both smiled as they saw the family say their goodbyes to one another. All across the foyer, similar goodbyes were being made between the servants and guards going on the trip that had families. But there was one servant family in particular that the king and queen paid special attention to that were busy saying their goodbyes.

The Overlands.

"I don't want you to go, Mommy! I want you to stay!"

"Now Emma, I know you're sad that I'm leaving, but I'll be back very soon!"

"I don't care! I don't want you to go!"

Little Emma Overland was clinging with all her might to her mother's green servant dress tightly with her tiny hands as she gazed up desperately at Kirsten's face, begging her not to leave. Jack stood rather rigidly off to the side as he avoided making eye contact with anyone at all by simply staring down at the one bag of luggage his mother had packed for the short trip. His gloved hands were clenched up into somewhat shaking fists, but other than that, he seemed to show no emotion whatsoever as to everything that was happening around him.

He was a wreck of emotions inside though, but the stoic mask that he had worn ever since he was eight-years-old hid his true feelings well.

"Mommy, can't I at least go with you?"

Kirsten laughed as she stroked her darling daughter's dark brown hair. "Emma! If I took you along, you'd be away from Jamie and the rest of your friends! They'd miss you! You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Well… no."

"Good. Oh, look there! Jamie seems to be looking down since his father just left. Why don't you go and cheer him up, okay?"

"Okay…"

Emma started to turn, but then spun back around and hugged Kirsten one last time.

"I love you, Mommy!"

"I love you, too, Emma. With all my heart!"

Emma clung to Kirsten's modest servant dress a few seconds longer, and then quietly shuffled away to go and talk to her fellow child servant friend Jamie.

As soon as the little girl was gone, the two monarchs approached the middle-aged mother and ever so silent son. Jack and Kirsten quickly noticed their approach, and nodded politely in accordance.

"Your majesties," said Kirsten with a smile, being sure to curtsy. "I'm rather looking forward to this trip. And I'd like to thank you personally, Queen Idun, for inviting me!"

Idun smiled at her friend. "It was no trouble at all, Kirsten. You're my dear friend. Of course I would invite you to accompany us."

Jack merely bowed to Agnar and Idun, not saying anything at all, keeping his eyes downcast to stare at the floor. His head was still swimming because of his mother's departure. It wouldn't be good if he forgot himself for even a moment while he was down here around everyone and he accidentally caused the beautiful tiled flooring to be covered in a thick sheet of ice.

Despite his carefully solemn expression on his face, Agnar seemed to sense what Jack was thinking, and turned to face him. "Is everything all right, Jack?" he inquired. "You are allowed to speak your mind. Idun and I won't mind."

Jack bit his lower lip, and then glanced bravely back up at his mother and the king and queen. "Do you all have to go?" he asked nervously. "I mean… I understand why the two of you must go, your majesties, but Mom? I… I'm scared to be here without you. You three are the only ones here in the castle who know about… well, you know… And if I'm being completely honest, your majesties, I consider the two of you to be more like family to me than my Dad ever was. I apologize if I spoke out of turn, but that's how feel…"

Upon hearing what her son just said, a loving smile spread across Kirsten's face. "You'll be fine, Jack. I have complete confidence in you. And we will be back very soon."

King Agnar nodded in accordance to Kirsten's words. "Your mother is right, Jackson. Despite everything, you're a good boy. You may not believe it, but the three of us know that all you've ever wanted is to keep people safe and make them happy."

"Don't be afraid of everything while we're gone, all right?" Queen Idun added. "So long as you believe in yourself that nothing will happen, we believe it too. Just have a bit of courage, all right?"

Jack slowly nodded. "Yes, thank you, Mom, your majesties," he said.

Agnar and Idun nodded back, but Kirsten reached out to try and hug her son goodbye. Upon seeing his mother try to initiate a form of physical affection with him, Jack automatically stepped back out of her reach. Just because the three of them had managed to boost his self-confidence for a few minutes didn't mean that he was still willing to compromise their safety.

Kirsten initially frowned when her son denied her hug, but she forced a smile on her face regardless. "I love you, Jack, no matter what! Remember that, okay?"

"I will, Mom. And I love you, too."

"Be sure to look after your sister, all right? Heaven knows she just adores you!"

"I promise I will."

"That's the Jack I know and love!"

Kirsten tried one last time to connect with her son and reached out to pat his cheek, but again, Jack flinched away from her loving touch. He stared apologetically at her and the king and queen, and made a good pretense of pretending not to notice how his mother smiled sadly back at him afterwards and how the monarchs exchanged pitying looks at one another.

"Take care of yourself, Mom," he said finally.

"I will, Jack. And you take care of Emma and yourself!"

And with that, Kirsten Overland obediently followed King Agnar, Queen Idun, and the rest of the departing servants and guards out the doors of the castle to go to the city docks.

* * *

No one knew it at the time, but that was the last time anyone in the castle saw the people they loved that boarded the ship bound for Corona.

Because not long after the ship departed, a great thunderstorm blew through Arendelle, and out at sea, thunder boomed and lightning lit up the sky as the waves crashed unforgivingly against the wooden boat. The boat was lost at sea during the storm, and to the dismay of everyone in the small Norwegian kingdom, there were no survivors of the unfortunate shipwreck.

None of the servants or guards, and not even the king and queen.

The kingdom wept for their beloved monarchs as funerary arrangements were made for regal memorial stones to be put up for not only the king and queen, but for all those who had perished at sea. Within two weeks, everything was prepared, and everyone who lived in the capitol city were invited to attend the somber event that took place on a cloudy gray afternoon in the front courtyard of the palace.

Of course, the gates being open like that was only temporary. In the last will and testament that King Agnar and Queen Idun left behind, should they both unfortunately pass on before their eldest daughter Elsa turned eighteen and could be crowned as the new queen, the gates were to only open for a few hours for the funeral and then remain shut again until Elsa's coronation. At no time were they to be opened permanently before then.

As the funeral commenced and the bishop spoke in Latin passages from the bible, Elsa stood beside Anna as she did her best to stop the tears flowing down her face. She was stronger than this. She was the Crown Princess of all Arendelle. She could be a good role model to her people for one day and try to maintain a dignified appearance throughout this gloomy ceremony. Anna leaning on her shoulder and crying over their deceased parents? That was acceptable because she was only twelve. But she on the other hand was fifteen-years-old. She had to be the face of the royal family.

She had to appear strong today.

Even if she didn't truly feel that way deep down inside.

In an effort to try and tune out what the bishop was saying and to forget about her own grief for at least a few seconds, Elsa looked away from the bishop and discretely scanned the faces of those in the crowd. She saw so many servants who had lost family members in the shipwreck quietly blowing their noses in small handkerchiefs and wiping away their tears, but then Elsa's eyes fell upon tiny Emma as she full out sobbed into the dress of the widowed Olivia Bennett, who was doing her best to try and alternate between comforting Emma who was so distraught, comforting Jamie as he stared with dead eyes at his father's name on one of the two memorial stones that had been set up, and trying to quiet down her crying daughter. Little Sophie Bennett was too young to fully understand what was going on, but she was still crying and screaming at the top of her tiny baby lungs, and the widowed mother was trying to do everything in her power to try and comfort all three children at once.

For the longest time, Elsa forgot all about listening to the bishop as she stared at little Emma standing by the Bennett family. Where was Jack? Despite being an extremely private person, Jack should be here, comforting Emma as well as paying his respects to his mother and her own parents – the king and queen.

It took all the willpower that Elsa possessed to focus back on the bishop and to ignore Emma for now while the memorial service went on. As much as she wanted to comfort the sweet little girl and find out why Jack wasn't here, Elsa couldn't go talk to her. She had to be a pillar of support for Anna right now.

It seemed to take hours, but at long last, the bishop quoted the end of the final bible verse, and the ceremony was finally over. People slowly began to disperse from the courtyard, but Anna clung desperately to Elsa as they stood in front of the memorial stones for a few extra seconds.

"Mother and Father…" Anna whispered. "We're never going to see them again…!"

"There still with us, Anna," Elsa said in a strained, cracking voice. "They will always be with us…"

Anna looked as though she wanted to say more, but full out bawling cut through the air, and the princesses turned their heads in time to see Emma being forcibly dragged away from the memorial stones and back towards the castle by Olivia Bennett.

"Come now, Emma. I'll take you back upstairs."

"No! I wanna stay! I wanna be with Mommy!"

"Emma—"

"She's _my_ Mommy! I want my Mommy!"

Jamie and the rest of the group of Emma's friends tried to gather around her and offer hugs of condolences, but Emma fought her way out of their grasps and did her best to yank her wrist free from Mrs. Bennett's grasp so she could stay out here in the courtyard and keep crying. Emma was truly hurting.

"Emma…" Anna whispered, sounding slightly thunderstruck. "Why is she alone? Where's… Where's Jack?"

"I don't know," Elsa whispered back. "But I intend to find out."

Motioning for Anna to follow her, Elsa made her way toward the screaming little girl surrounded by her friends as she was forcibly dragged back to the main entrance of the castle by one of the servant mothers. Seeing that nothing was going to stop her elder sister from finding out what was going on, Anna hurried along at Elsa's heels as directed, she too wondering why Jack was nowhere to be seen.

Olivia quickly took note of the fact that Elsa and Anna were approaching them, and let go of Emma momentarily so that she could support baby Sophie in both arms as she dutifully curtsied. "Princess Elsa, Princess Anna," she murmured sadly, but still respectfully.

The children all politely bowed or curtsied to show their respect as well. Most days, Elsa and Anna didn't mind if the children forgot to bow to the two of them as they were all still young, but today, it was nice for the princesses that the children remembered their manners. Apart from Emma who they'd been acquainted with since the day she was born, they preferred not to be all hugs and kisses with the children today with false smiles. It was far too hard for the princesses to pretend to be strong in front of those in the castle that had always expected the two of them to smile no matter what happened.

"Our condolences for your loss, your highnesses," said Olivia with genuine remorse in her voice. "Your parents… they did this country proud. We are all so sincerely sorry for what happened."

Anna's eyes blinked away more tears as she nodded accordingly to the Bennett matriarch's kind words. "Thank you," she quietly murmured.

Elsa also nodded thankfully to Olivia's words, but then her focus shifted downwards toward the still sobbing Emma. "We're sorry for your losses as well. Especially you, Emma," she said kindly. "Your mother was very kind. We're sorry that she's gone."

Emma's tears refused to stop streaming down her cheeks, but upon hearing what Elsa said to her, she finally yanked her wrist free from Olivia Bennett's grasp and rushed forward to bury her face into Elsa's black dress as she continued to wail at the top of her lungs. Olivia looked downright horrified by how Emma was technically breaking servant protocol by hugging the crown princess like this, but Elsa merely waved her hand to the woman with a look on her face that assured her that it was all right. Emma was merely acting how any child would be when mourning his or her recently deceased mother. It was completely fine.

Elsa gently hugged Emma back until Emma finally found the strength to let go of her dress, and when she did, Elsa forced a comforting smile on her face as she gazed down at her.

"By the way, Emma, I was wondering where Jack is. I don't see him anywhere. Did he leave early?" she asked.

Within seconds, a fresh wave of tears burst forth out of Emma's eyes as she started full out sobbing again.

Elsa and Anna exchanged looks of confusion at Emma's sudden distress, not understanding what happened.

"Emma…?" Anna questioned, not even bothering to hide her confusion.

"Jackie wouldn't come!" the little girl howled through her loud sobs. "He hasn't left his bedroom in days! I begged Big Brother to come! I _begged_ him! But he wouldn't! He wouldn't come! He… He won't even talk to me!"

Elsa stared at Emma in complete disbelief for the longest time, but then she took Emma's hand in her own before looking up at Olivia Bennett.

"I'll take her back to her room for you," Elsa offered. "You can go and be a comfort for your own children."

"Are you sure, Princess?" Olivia asked worriedly. "I… I don't want to trouble you or Princess Anna…"

"No, it's fine. I insist, actually," Elsa replied. "If you would just escort the other children back to their parents first before you take your son and daughter back to your family unit, it would be a big help."

"Of course, your highness."

Olivia gestured for Jamie and the other kids to follow her away from the princesses and the orphaned Overland daughter. As soon as they were all gone, Anna turned to face Elsa with a frown on her face.

"Are you going to confront Jack?" she whispered.

Elsa nodded. "I'm going to try, at least. It was wrong of him to abandon Emma today. I know he doesn't like to open up to anyone, but he should have tried to comfort her today. And he should have paid his respects to his mother and our parents!"

"Good luck. It's been so long since we were friends with him, Elsa. I don't think he's ever going to thaw his frozen heart."

"I'll meet you back upstairs afterwards. Wait for me in my bedroom."

"All right."

Elsa smiled softly at her dear little sister, and then glanced down at where Emma was clinging to her hand as though it was the safest thing in the world.

"Come along, Emma. Let's go and have a chat with that brother of yours."

"'Kay…"

Taking a moment to wipe her runny nose on the sleeve of her dress, Emma continued to cry as Elsa led her back inside the castle and back up the grand staircase to the servants' corridors. Emma was still crying, but Elsa's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. For all his faults of being an absentee big brother to Emma and choosing to up and end his friendship between herself and Anna, Elsa knew for a fact that Jack was not heartless. He had loved his mother with all his heart, especially after his father had seemingly abandoned the family, and he had been rather fond of her parents as well, as they had always been good to him.

What on earth could have possessed him to not come to the memorial service?

When they reached the Overland family apartment, Elsa opened the door and allowed Emma to enter first, but when the princess entered the living space, she initially shivered at the surprisingly bitter cold temperature throughout the tiny apartment.

"Goodness me! It's freezing in here!" she exclaimed.

Emma sniffled from her runny nose as she shrugged. "It's been like that for days. Jack won't come out to get a fire going…" she murmured.

"I'll have someone come and set a fire in the fireplace in a few minutes," Elsa assured her. Truth be told, Elsa was surprised that Emma wasn't sick from how cold it was here in the apartment, but what surprised her even more was that Jack wouldn't even come out of his room to light a fire so that Emma wouldn't become ill in the first place. Did he not care about Emma's well-being at all?

With a sigh, Elsa approached Jack's bedroom door with Emma right at her heels. She politely knocked on the wood of the door, but quickly recoiled her hand back upon touching it. She had thought that the apartment itself was rather chilly, but the door? The door was as cold as ice. She had barely even touched it with her knuckles as she knocked, but her fingers were now shaking a bit from the cold. She quickly rubbed her hands together to warm them back up as she hesitantly called out to the boy she knew was listening on the other side.

"Jack? It's me, Elsa. I know you're in there. I have Emma with me…"

There was no reply from beyond the door.

"Jack, people have been asking where you were today at the memorial. Why didn't you come?"

There was still no answer from the teenage boy on the other side.

Emma wept, and then moved around Elsa to knock on the door herself. Just like the crown princess, the seven-year-old was taken aback when she felt how cold the wood of the door was, but she ignored it after a second and began to talk.

"Big Brother? Please come out! I… I want a hug!" she begged. "I want you to tell me to have courage and be brave! _Please!"_

There was nothing to be heard from inside the bedroom.

"Jack, we're right out here for you," Elsa pressed. "Just let us in."

"We only have each other, Jackie! Come on!" Emma sobbed, even going so far as to ignore the iciness of the door and bang her fists repeatedly against it to get some form of recognition from the only family member that she had left. "It's just you and me! I… I want you to tell me what we're going to do now without Mommy or Daddy!"

It was no use. Jack still refused to grant them any form of acknowledgement.

But Elsa still wouldn't give up that easily. She had to try at least one more time.

"Do you… Do you wanna build a snowman, Jack? I know it's technically summer but… but we could all try to do something fun…" she pitifully offered.

Jack had nothing to say to her question.

Elsa sighed in defeat, and then turned to look down at Emma. "Do you want to spend the night in my bedroom, Emma? Or with the Bennett family?" she asked. "I know Anna wouldn't mind, and I'm sure your friend Jamie and his mother wouldn't care either."

Emma immediately shook her head as she sunk down onto the floorboards, and leaned up against the cold door. "I… I wanna stay…" she murmured. "I wanna be here when Jack comes out…"

Elsa didn't like that idea though. She didn't want to just abandon the mourning girl here in this frigid apartment with an older brother who – she was forced to admit to herself – didn't care one way or another about her.

"Emma—"

"I'm not leaving! I'm staying right here!" she snipped.

There was a long pause, but Elsa sighed. She couldn't force the little girl to go if she didn't want to.

"I'll have someone come up to set a fire in the fireplace. Try and keep warm in the meantime, okay?"

"'Kay…"

"If you need anything, Emma, don't hesitate to ask me or Anna, all right?"

Emma nodded, but didn't say anything further as Elsa quietly left the room. The Overland girl adored the princesses of the castle, but it wasn't Elsa or even Anna that Emma wanted.

She wanted her family right now.

She wanted her big brother.

She wanted Jack.

She sniffled at that thought, and then let her head flop backwards against the cold door as she timidly called out to the one person she so desperately wanted comfort and affection from on the other side.

"Jack? Please come out…" she whimpered. "I want you… I want you to be my big brother again! I want you to tell me a story… Just like you did the last time we saw Daddy…!"

But her pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. There was nothing to be heard on the other end of the door.

It was all too much for Emma, and she started full out crying again as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"You… You told me before that I have to believe in the Moonbeam Boy with all my heart…" she wept. "I do believe in him… But I believe in you, too! I believe in you! Please, just for once come out here and hug me! Tell me that I'm right to believe in you the way I do…!"

But the door still didn't open.

It remained firmly shut.

Just the way that it always was.

Emma sobbed with all her heart and soul as it became clear to her that Jack wouldn't come out no matter what she did. Why? Why did Jack have to be like this? Why did he refuse to love her?

"I… I believe in you, Jackie…" she faintly whispered one last time as she sat there against the frigid cold door. "I believe in you…!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to both Elsa and Emma, Jack wasn't oblivious to their pleading as he sat on the floor on opposite side of the door. He heard their sad words and he was hurting just as much as they were. He was crying for his mother and the king and queen, too. His mother had loved him despite all his faults, and the king and queen had treated him as if he was their own son. He wanted nothing more than to open the door and tell his crush before she left the apartment and his little sister who was still waiting for him on the opposite side of the wood all this.

But he didn't dare to let them in.

He was a danger to them.

Especially right now when his room was a frozen mess.

The minute Jack had learned of the deaths of his beloved mother and the good king and queen, he had locked himself in the bedroom and refused any visitors, opening it only for food and bathroom breaks. His powers had gone completely out of control due to his emotional distress, and everything in his bedroom was covered in thick amounts ice, snow and frost. He knew he had to be the good boy that Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun had always taught him to be and be numb and emotionless despite their apparent deaths, but he just couldn't control it this time. Every time he thought about them, his powers would instinctively react and cause more snow to cover the floor and more icicles to appear on the ceiling.

If it weren't for the fact that his bedroom was literally a winter hazard, this would be one of the rare times that Jack would risk breaking the rule of keeping everyone at arm's length to try and comfort Elsa and Emma. It wouldn't be for himself that he would do such a thing. It would be entirely for them. His pain meant nothing compared to theirs, the girl he was only starting to realize he felt more than a small crush for, and his sweet and precious little sister.

Elsa and Emma meant everything to him.

Which is why he could never let them get past the barriers he placed around his heart.

Silent tears flowed down his face as he came to this realization, but they literally froze within seconds on his cheeks. It wasn't surprising, considering that his entire bedroom was below freezing temperatures, but because Jack never actually felt cold thanks to his powers, he didn't even realize how cold it actually was. It was a miracle that he could limit the accidental blizzard to be just inside his bedroom and not carry out throughout the entire small apartment. But this mess of ice and snow just proved his point that he could never let Elsa, Emma, or indeed anyone at all be close to him.

He refused to hurt them with his stupid, horrible powers.

If he could wreck his bedroom accidentally just because he was mourning his mother and the king and queen, who knew how badly he could hurt others by a simple mistake?

As Emma continued murmuring her words of "I believe… I believe…" over and over again so much it was almost like a prayer or chant, Jack buried his face in his knees as more snowflakes appeared above his head and danced about lightly in the completely still air.

He would not be selfish.

He would not indulge in his want to only talk and have fun with Elsa and Emma.

He would not risk them getting hurt because of him.

He would live in fear of possibly hurting others forever.

* * *

Jack didn't know it, but there was indeed someone who was aware of his secret distress as he sat there on the floor in the middle of the arctic snow as he silently grieved over his mother and the king and queen.

And they were watching from his bedroom window.

Pitch Black grinned as he stood atop his hovering cloud of black sand as he watched more of Jack's ice and snow materialize as he cried and silently feared for the safety of everyone else in this world, but primarily for the crown princess and his little sister.

Seven years. He had been secretly haunting this boy's worst nightmares and feeding off his fear for the past seven years. That was less than an instant in immortal time, but for a fifteen-year-old human boy, that was almost half of his life. It was incredible to the Nightmare King how much fear he had siphoned off the young Jackson Overland as the years had passed by. His powers grew stronger every day, and his army of black Nightmares was almost back to full strength.

Truth be told, Pitch really ought to thank Jack for what he had unknowingly done for him, restoring him to his former glory, but Pitch was far too malicious and evil for that.

Especially because the immortal spirit was now one hundred percent convinced that this boy was somehow connected to his former fallen adversary. In what way, he wasn't sure, but as the years had gone by and the boy continued to grow older, he had only continued to resemble his old foe more and more with each passing day.

Part of Pitch wanted to do away with Jackson Overland right now and rid himself of a possible nuisance and enemy in the future if it turned out that Jack one day ended up being a threat to him and that he was somehow linked to that pest from the past.

It was the smart thing to do, after all.

But Pitch was a greedy creature. He wanted his Nightmare army to keep growing. When the day finally came when Jack finally snapped from the pressure of repressing his magic – it would happen one day, he knew, because magic of this caliber was impossible to keep suppressed forever – Pitch would have the perfect army to finally use against both the ignorant human population, who would undoubtedly be terrified by the strange ice-wielding boy, and to strike back against those wretched Guardians, who would for sure come to fight him when they sensed the massive rise of fear from the children in the land.

Yes, Pitch would continue to wait.

Wait and influence Jack to stay afraid of himself.

The more that he was afraid of himself, the stronger he, the Nightmare King, would become.

And so long as he was afraid, the less chance there was that anything would become of the fact that Jackson Overland could be somehow linked to the former Guardian of Courage.


	3. The Open Gates

**Here it is, everyone! Chapter three! I managed to shock myself with getting it uploaded today, the day that classes start up for me again at college. I'm hoping that I can continue to post chapters at least once a week, but again, no promises. This is going to be a brutal semester for me, what with how my schedule is arranged. It's necessary, I know, but it's still going to be brutal... T_T**

 **This chapter was technically finished last night, but I figured I would just post today. Why, you all ask? Why, so you all wouldn't sleep right through the update notification, of course! I wanted you all to see the notification that the story was updated instead of sleeping right through it, lol! I hope you all like this next chapter! We're getting to see how Rapunzel, Merida, Hiccup, and necessary supporting characters from their respective movies that all have roles to play in this story are introduced in this AU world of Frozen. I hope I did justice to all their characters!**

 **Once again, this chapter has yet to be critiqued by Silken Danser, but she'll get back to me soon with all her edits! Until then, please ignore all the typos and grammar mistakes. They will all be corrected very soon!**

 **And now, let me move on to thanking the five people who were kind enough to review chapter two:**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- XYZArtemis**

 **\- Elena**

 **\- NotCanadian**

 **\- Fangirl309**

 **Thank you all so much for taking the time to express what you think of the opening chapters of The Winter's Servant! You have no idea how happy it always makes me to see new review alerts in my email inbox! Now please leave more wonderful reviews at the end of this chapter! Pretty please? It would mean the world to me if you would!**

 **Please note: I do not own the movies _Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled,_ or _How to Train Your Dragon._ _Frozen, Brave,_ and _Tangled_ belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and _Rise of the Guardians_ and _How To Train Your Dragon_ both belong to Dreamworks Animation. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Again, please be sure to review when you are done reading! Every time I read a new review, I am inspired to keep writing! :D**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 2/9/17, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The Open Gates**

Three years.

It had been three years since the premature deaths of Arendelle's cherished monarchs, King Agnar and Queen Idun. The common folk had spent weeks mourning the loss. Although the king and queen had seemingly decided on a whim to close off the gates many years ago and chose to keep to themselves, they had still been good and fair rulers to the country and the people still adored them. Their deaths hit them just as hard as it had hit the monarch's two daughters, the Crown Princess Elsa and Princess Anna, and for the past three years, the country had wept daily for their beloved king and queen.

But all that was about to change.

Because on this lovely, perfect summer morning, every citizen in Arendelle was abuzz as they partook in the joyous news that today was the start of their small Norwegian country's chance to begin a new again.

Because late in the winter, the Crown Princess Elsa had officially turned eighteen.

And today, she would finally claim the birthright passed down to her by her late father to be crowned as the new queen.

Today was Princess Elsa's Coronation Day.

All the peasants that lived in the capitol city were so excited at the prospect of simply being alive at the time of the coronation of a new monarch, but more importantly, the citizens of Arendelle were thrilled at the news that the palace gates were finally going to be open again after being mysteriously closed for the past ten years by the previous monarchs. Rumors had spread throughout the kingdom from the castle servants who occasionally ventured out to bring back supplies to the castle. The story was that neither Princess Elsa nor Princess Anna knew why their parents had chosen to isolate the kingdom all those years ago, and the employees that gossiped with the other citizens were clueless about the matter, too. But the workers all assured the curious peasants that the gates being opened again for the coronation was definitely not going to be another one-time thing as it had been for King Agnar and Queen Idun's memorial service several years prior.

No, upon the orders of their queen-to-be, Princess Elsa, the gates were to be permanently opened from now on.

Whatever reasons that her parents had in deciding to isolate the castle from both the people in their country and from other neighboring nations that Arendelle was allied with, Elsa did not share in those reasons.

She wanted the royal family of Arendelle to be welcoming to both the small folk and other royalty once again.

Speaking of other royalty, many visiting sovereigns from neighboring countries had come via grand and luxurious ships to witness this magnificent event – the coronation of a new Norwegian queen. It seemed as though every important noble in all of northern Europe had come to pay their respects and well wishes to Elsa and her younger sister Anna on this iconic day. The youngest prince of the Southern Isles had come as a representative, and the Land of Weselton had sent a duke, but the announcement of three particular ships with country leaders coming to the coronation was what everyone was talking about.

Although the first of those ships wasn't all that surprising, considering that the royals aboard the vessel were well known to be relatives of the Arendelle royal family.

"So, this is Arendelle? The country you were originally from, Mother?"

"Yes, Rapunzel. I grew up in the castle with your late Uncle Agnar before I married your father."

"Best decision that she ever made, in my opinion."

"Frederic!"

"It's true, dear! I'm lucky to have you as my wife!"

"I'm glad that you both love each other, your majesties, but can we hurry up and get through the village to get inside the castle? I'm pretty sure all the townsfolk here recognize me!"

"Eugene! If I have to pull out my trusty frying pan from all my luggage, I will! Have some patience, please! This is my first time visiting my mother's country! Give me an opportunity to look around!"

There was the sound of a particularly angry neighing from a certain white horse and the furious chittering of a tiny green chameleon riding on top of the said horse's head as they glared at the twenty-four-year-old man that was escorting their mistress through the main city square. A select number of royal guards, all dressed up smartly in professional red military suits, were accompanying the small group of royals alongside the horse and small chameleon, and although a few of them were sending the young man some snide looks, they mostly kept silent as they circled around the four royals they were sworn to protect as they strolled through the city to reach the Arendelle castle.

They were the Coronan royal family – King Frederic, Queen Arianna, the former Lost Princess Rapunzel, and soon-to-be Prince Consort Eugene Fitzherbert, as he was technically engaged to Rapunzel.

The king and queen were both brunettes. Arianna pinned part of her hair back a bit so it was out of her eyes but still flowed loosely down her back and Frederic had a heavy brown beard that took up most his chin. While Frederic had crystal blue eyes that went well with the deep blue overcoat he was sporting, Arianna's were a bright shade of emerald green that were sparkling happily as she looked around fondly at the old village she remembered spending time in as a child. She chose to wear a beautiful light purple gown that made her look both elegant and wise, and as the reigning monarchs of Corona, the king and queen both had solid gold crowns on top of their heads. They also shared one more trait in common: sun jewelry. The sun was the symbol of the royal family of Corona, and while Frederic had a rather heavy golden sun amulet around his neck, Arianna chose to wear a simple pearl necklace with a sun pendant attached.

They were a kind royal couple, the Coronan king and queen, and while most of the older generation of peasants were pleased to see that their former princess was doing well and was obviously happy with her husband, most of the common folks' attention was on that of their daughter, the famous former Lost Princess and cousin to their queen-to-be and current princess.

Princess Rapunzel was indeed a vision of loveliness. At eighteen-years-old, the same age as her cousin Elsa, she had the same light dusting of freckles across her nose just like both of her cousins whom she had never met, clear and fair-colored skin with a natural soft shade of pink on each of her cheeks, and pretty green eyes just like her mother Arianna and the deceased King Agnar. She was dressed very regally for the coronation of her relative in a gorgeous, long-sleeved purple dress with pink accents and a lavender corset-like top that was laced with pink ribbon. The purple skirt was decorated with swirling floral designs in other shades of pink, dark purple, and even white. On her head was her royal tiara, solid gold just like her parents, but with three tear shaped diamonds in the exact center of it, each one lined by miniscule white pearls, and near the base of the golden band were rubies that glinted red in the sunlight. Around her neck, she wore the royal crest of her family just like her parents: a simple pearl necklace rather like Queen Arianna's, but with a somewhat smaller golden sun pendant attached.

She was undeniable beautiful, there was no question about that.

But her hair?

That was what really attracted everyone's attention to her.

Everyone knew that Rapunzel had been born with blonde hair instead of brown like both her parents, because of the magical golden healing flower that Queen Arianna had ingested during the last stages of her pregnancy after falling ill, so that wasn't at all a surprise. But no one had been told about the length it would be when they saw her. Rapunzel's hair had to be bound up in a rather tight braid to keep it from dragging behind her on the ground, and several beautiful strands of pink and purple ribbons had carefully been woven into the clever up-do to add an extra pizazz. Many people watching the Coronan royals pass through the square couldn't help but whisper curiously amongst themselves about her hair as they speculated on just how long it had to be when it was not braided up as it was.

She was definitely a curiosity, the former Lost Princess of Corona, make no mistake about that.

As Rapunzel walked through the square, she had her elbow linked with that of her fiancé, Eugene Fitzherbert, who also happened to be her rescuer from the evil woman who had kidnapped her as a baby. Eugene was of average height and build for a fair skinned man in his mid-twenties, with short dark brown hair and a matching shock on his chin that made up his goatee, and rather light brown eyes. Like his fiancé and future royal in-laws, he wore the royal color purple and sun sigil in his attire: a rich purple jacket with black sleeves trimmed in gold, matching black pants and boots, and around his neck was a golden sun amulet very similar to King Frederic's.

That being said, while his fiancé Rapunzel was sweet and bubbly, and his future in-laws King Frederic and Queen Arianna were kind and wise, Eugene Fitzherbert was cut from a whole other cloth all together. Having been originally born a peasant and orphaned at a very young age, Eugene had spent most of his childhood in a poorhouse learning from other, meaner kids that if he wanted anything in this world, he'd have to cut through the nose to get it, and that led the boy to grow up to become a rather arrogant, but still rather devilishly charming master thief. That's not to say that he wasn't a good person though deep down. Before he had chosen to run away from the hellhole of an orphanage, back when he was around thirteen, he had often comforted the younger, nicer kids by reading his favorite children's book to them every night: _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider._ There was one kid in particular he had always been rather fond of and tried to protect from the rest of the bullies, but remembering him was always painful for Eugene, so he tried to avoid thinking about him as much as possible.

At any rate, in the picture book, Flynnigan Rider was a rich swashbuckling rogue who went on great and thrilling adventures wherever he went, and he wasn't too bad at charming the ladies, either.

And for a kid with nothing, like poor orphaned Eugene Fitzherbert, a life like that seemed like a much better prospect to aim for.

Aiming for the rather selfish dream of being just like Flynnigan Rider by trying to become as wealthy as possible, Eugene had taken to being an infamous thief in Corona, going by the alias of his childhood hero: Flynn Rider. It wasn't until three years ago, back when he was twenty-one, that his outlook on life began to change, and all because he had the audacity to steal the Lost Princess's crown from right under the noses of the Coronan monarchs and the royal guards .He had, by pure chance, happened to stumble upon a certain lonely fifteen-year-old girl with the longest blonde hair imaginable, who had been locked away in a hidden tower all her life, and strangely kept a pesky green chameleon for a pet. Upon meeting Rapunzel, and in helping her to achieve her own dream to see the Coronan Festival of Lights that happened every summer on the Lost Princess's birthday – her birthday – Eugene had gradually cast aside all his initial dreams of riches and glory and instead replaced it with spending the rest of his life with the girl he had fallen in love with. Of course, when it was discovered that Rapunzel was the famous Lost Princess that everyone had been searching for relentlessly over the past fifteen years, Eugene had naturally taken Rapunzel and the stolen crown back to the king and queen for a long overdue reunion and to reclaim her throne.

He had long since stopped thieving after that life-changing adventure and went back to his birth name of Eugene Fitzherbert as he started officially courting Rapunzel. Despite the six year age gap between the couple, Rapunzel and Eugene were very happy together. So happy, in fact, that after three years of being romantically involved, Eugene had officially proposed to her, and Rapunzel had happily said yes.

But if anyone asked, Eugene would always claim that it was Rapunzel who had been begging him to marry her for the past few years and that he had been the one to finally say yes.

Eugene was definitely a better person now after having met Rapunzel, but there was still a few remnants of the old cocky Flynn Rider in him, after all.

As the visiting Coronan royals wove their way through the village square, the former thief kept his head bowed and his eyes staring directly down at his feet, trying to avoid making eye contact with any of the townsfolk, but the princess smiled and waved happily to everyone she saw as she squeezed her fiancé's arm encouragingly.

"You know, Eugene, I know that you're always afraid of what people will think when they see you, because you used to steal for a living, but I think you tend overthink things a bit. Especially right now!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

Eugene glanced up to give his future wife a sheepish smile. "What makes you say that, Blondie?" he asked.

"Well, you look just like how you did three years ago, when you were sneaking around the village in Corona with me for the lantern festival because you stole my crown and were avoiding the guards!" the blonde-haired, green-eyed beauty giggled.

Queen Arianna laughed at the comparison her daughter made, but nonetheless nodded in agreement. "I agree with her, Eugene. You are acting unusually skittish today. Are you perhaps worried about what the people might think about your past?"

"Uh… well, yeah. Kind of…"

King Frederic heartily chuckled as he gave his future son-in-law a friendly thump on the back. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. Arianna was originally a princess from here, and she was well loved. You helped restore our daughter, their former princess's daughter, back to the throne. They are just as indebted to you for bringing Rapunzel home to Arianna and me as the townsfolk back home are."

Rapunzel nodded, and gave his arm another affectionate squeeze. "See? There's nothing to worry about. Come to think of it, I never thought the day would come where _I_ would end up being the confident one in a new setting and _you_ would be the one that's scared and nervous…"

That earned a nicker of what was obviously amusement out of the snow-white horse accompanying the party and another chittering of laughter out of the green chameleon that was still riding on top of its head.

Eugene glared spitefully at the two animals. "I swear, those two just hate me…" he grumbled in irritation.

"Maximus, Pascal? Be nice!" the princess gently scolded.

The horse blew some of its mane of white hair out of its eyes, but otherwise did as he was told and made no further comment.

The chameleon shot one last glare at the soon-to-be prince consort, but then rolled its eyes before hopping down off the stallion's head and landing neatly on Rapunzel's shoulder.

Rapunzel giggled as she stroked its tiny green head. "Pascal! If you wanted to ride with me, you should have just said so! I would have put you here on my shoulder sooner!" she said cheerfully.

The little chameleon chirped happily at what his lifelong friend had said. Their antics seemed to snap Eugene out of his out of character funk, and immediately the somewhat nervous expression on his face melted away into a mischievous smirk.

"That frog of yours is so weird, Blondie. I still don't get why you kept him after all these years…" he teased.

Pascal the Chameleon shot him a glare, but Rapunzel playfully swatted his arm. "First of all, Eugene, Pascal has been with me ever since I was a little girl and still lived with Mother Gothel. Be nice to him. Secondly, he is not a frog. He's a chameleon."

"Nuance."

Rapunzel giggled at her lover's antics, but then turned her attention back to her parents.

"I can't believe that I'm finally going to meet my cousins Elsa and Anna! You both met them before, right, Mother, Father? What are they like?"

"Well… that's hard to say, because the last time we saw either of them was before your late aunt and uncle locked the castle gates exactly ten years ago," Frederic explained. "If I remember correctly… Elsa would have been about eight, I think, and I believe Anna was… five? Yes, five. They've obviously grown up a bit since then, so they may not be the same as they were when your mother and I last saw them."

"But they were definitely very sweet little girls," Arianna chimed in. "Elsa was acting like the perfect little lady and always had good manners. She looks a lot like her mother, come to think of it, what with her beautiful dark brown hair. And Anna? Anna was always the more playful one, running around and getting dirty whenever she had the chance. She takes more after my brother in her appearance, with her lovely strawberry-blonde hair… Oh, I wish we could have been able to attend the memorial service for Agnar and Idun three years ago. I still feel so guilty not being there to pay my respects to my brother…"

King Frederic gently patted his wife's shoulder to console her, and even Eugene had the decency to send her an apologetic look, but Rapunzel glanced sadly down at her feet when she heard those words. Guilt was eating her up inside.

"Mother? Do you think Elsa and Anna will hate me when we meet?" she asked in a small voice.

Instantly, all heads snapped at once to look at her. Even the royal guards accompanying them looked stunned.

"Rapunzel! What on earth gave you that idea?!" Arianna cried.

"Well… because Uncle Agnar and Aunt Idun died at sea on their way to officially meet me!" she explained. "I mean, I know it wasn't my fault, but… but I wouldn't blame Elsa and Anna if they resented me for the deaths of their parents…"

"Silly! It's all in your head, Blondie!" Eugene quipped, squeezing her arm a bit to emphasize his words and direct his fiancé's attention back to him. "I've yet to meet a single person that has ever hated you!"

"Eugene's right, Rapunzel," Frederic agreed, setting his hand under his daughter's chin and tilting her head to look at him next. "I'm sure Elsa and Anna have changed since your mother and I last saw them, but I am positive that they are both still kindhearted. I'm sure that they do not hold you in contempt for that unfortunate event."

"Just wait, Rapunzel," Arianna assured her. "I am sure that before the day is over, you will be friends with not only your cousins, but you'll make a few other friends with some other royals or nobles, too. I know that we're not the only royals to come witness your cousin's coronation. Lots of kingdoms have come to wish Elsa well in her reign as the next queen of Arendelle."

Rapunzel smiled. Her true family always seemed to know just what to say to cheer her up whenever she felt down, unlike Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel would always find a way to say good words that sounded nice but actually held disguised blades of malic, or she would figure out how to make the subject all about her instead. Her real mother and father were the most wonderful parents in the whole world, and she couldn't wait until she was officially Eugene's wife. He may not be the perfect prince charming, but she loved him anyway.

"I hope I can make lots of new friends, Mother! I really do!"

* * *

And indeed, the royal family of Corona wasn't the only royal family that had come to meet the new Norwegian queen. There were many other monarchs, nobles, and foreign dignitaries that were still leisurely strolling up to the castle or disembarking from their vast galleon ships at the city docks.

In the case of a certain minor Scottish country called Dunbroch, not only did the entire royal family come along with a few select guards and a couple of trusted servants, but so did the three most prominent noble clans.

"Merida, stop fiddling with your wimple! You'll make your curls fall out!"

"Mum! The wimple's so uncomfortable! Can't I just let my hair be loose?! I hate having it confined in this stupid headpiece!"

"Aye, Elinor! Our lass is the princess of Clan Dunbroch! She's proud of her red curls!"

"I know, Fergus, but those red curls of hers are too wild to tame otherwise! I couldn't pull it back into a nice braid no matter how hard I tried! The wimple is the only thing that will tame it! It's a coronation, after all! Our daughter has to look her best!"

"Hear that, boys? Our sister has to look—"

"—her very best!"

"Like a perfect, polite, and dainty princess!"

"Hamish, Hubert, and Harris! If you devils ever dare to call me a dainty and perfect princess again, I'll shove my arrows up your wee bums!"

"Merida! Boys! Behave yourselves! We're not in Dunbroch anymore and we need to make a good impression! Is that clear?"

"Fine."

"Yeah."

"Crystal clear."

"Yes, Mum."

"Ah, Elinor! Leave them be! The best relationships always have arguments! And better that they fight now rather than later today!"

"Yeah, Mum. Better you let us fight now rather than later. After all, Hubert, Harris, and I would rather have Big Sis tell us what she honestly thinks about stuff now rather than after she turns us all into bears again!"

" _Hamish!"_

"Hamish Dunbroch! If you don't behave there will be no sweets for a month! Now, apologize to your sister!"

"Fine. Sorry…"

Merida huffed as she shot one of her three younger triplet brothers an irritable scowl. Despite being the future queen of her country, Merida was not a typical everyday princess. Whereas other seventeen-year-old princesses liked to powder their faces in make-up, wear formal dresses at every occasion, and dreamed of living happily ever after with their perfect prince charming, the royal crown princess of Dunbroch was not at all like that. Make-up made her face feel heavy and she would often smear it by accident whenever she so much as touched her face, and wearing formal dresses, like the turquoise blue one with gold trimmings and matching belt she was forced to wear for today meant wearing a corset, something that she completely abhorred because it meant that she couldn't fire off arrows easily with her favorite bow.

And falling in love and getting married?

That was something that the red-haired girl had gone to great lengths to avoid having to do for a good long while late last summer, when her parents – primarily Elinor – had tried to marry her off to one of the three sons of the three other prominent clan lords in the kingdom. Granted, Merida's desire to change her fate of being forced into marriage led to her stupidly making a deal with a senile old witch, who gave her a cake that accidentally turned her mother into a bear, as well as her three little brothers. But it all worked out in the end though, because when Merida mended the strained bond between herself and her mother, she broke the spell that had been set upon her and turned her back into a human, and with the spell on Elinor broken, so was the spell on Hamish, Hubert, and Harris. After the whole fiasco, her parents had decreed that the three lord's sons had to win her heart before they could win her hand in marriage, and that had worked out just fine for Merida. At least that meant that she could have a few more years of enjoying her freedom before she had to worry about being married away again.

But right now, Merida was in a very bad mood. She was annoyed with her brothers for teasing her. Her head was aching from keeping all of her natural, long and curly red hair confined inside the dreadful wimple her mother had forced on her. She was struggling to breathe from how tight her corset had been laced up in this formal dress. And she had been expressly forbidden from carrying her prized bow and arrow set, and from standing beside her best friend, her horse Angus, while she and the rest of her family waited at the edge of the docks as the rest of their visiting party from Scotland disembarked from the other numerous ships that they had sailed here on.

But those were all secondary reasons as to why Merida was so short tempered at the moment.

The primary reason was because of the three Scottish noble lords and their sons that were hopping down off their own ships onto the gangplanks that the citizens of Arendelle had set up.

"Mum, Dad, was it really necessary for the other clans to follow us to this foreign queen's coronation?" she complained. "I thought we all agreed last year after the games that I was allowed to choose my own fate?"

Elinor sighed. "Merida, we agreed to let you break tradition and choose your own husband in time, yes, but as a princess, certain duties are still required of you, so you must eventually choose one of the lord's sons for a husband. But despite what you may think, it's not like your father and I requested your suitor's families to come with us to this coronation. They were invited by the future Queen Elsa herself because she heard that all four of our clans have been close allies and friends for years! She was only trying to be considerate and include all the nobility from our homeland."

The princess rolled her eyes at her mother, the queen. Merida and Elinor had never had much in common, not even in their appearances. While Merida had giant, untamable red curls, a light dusting of freckles, and deep blue eyes which she and her three seven-year-old brothers had all inherited from their father, Elinor was slender and fair-skinned, with caring brown eyes and brown hair with one gray streak in it that was so long, it reached her ankles and was pulled back several times in multiple gold hair ties. She pulled off the look of royalty so well, what with her gorgeous emerald green long-sleeved dress with the gold chains looped around her waist, and the simple gold tiara on her head adorned with lovely jade gemstones. Where Merida was a tomboyish, headstrong, and free-spirited teenager that loved adventure and was fearless in the face of danger, Elinor was an elegant, strict, and wise queen that strived for perfection in everything. Up until last year, the two never saw eye-to-eye on things, especially after Elinor had tried to force Merida to accept the destiny that royalty entailed by arranging the three noble clans' sons to try and win her daughters' hand in marriage through the annual Highland Games. After the whole ordeal of accidentally turning the queen into a bear, which required the mother and daughter to work together to break the curse, Merida and Elinor had been on much better terms with one another and tried to see things from each other's perspective.

But even so, they still didn't agree on everything.

Especially when it came to Merida choosing a suitor one day.

Merida rolled her eyes as she played a bit with the silver pendant around her neck, the engraving of her clan's crest etched into the metal: a mighty sword covered in vines, symbolizing the bravery and protection of the Dunbroch kingdom. She was the firstborn child of Clan Dunbroch. The daughter of Fergus Dunbroch, the man who had fought the demon bear Mor'du, and nothing her mother said could ever make her willingly contemplate the subtle hints that she always imposed on her to just give the idea of marriage a chance.

And definitely not when her only three marriageable options were the three lords' sons that were pushed on her at every social gathering.

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris all seemed to be able to guess what their big sister was thinking as she stood there trying to fight the urge to scowl as the guests from the other three clans finished disembarking and started marching toward where they were all waiting. The trio grinned at each other a bit before tugging on the shiny blue fabric of the skirt of her dress to get her attention.

"Merida, we like your suitors!"

"You should just pick one to marry and be done with it!"

"Choose the Macintosh heir! He's the coolest!"

Merida's eyes went wide at her younger brothers' teasing, but then the glower she had been fighting back spread rapidly across her face as she lightly smacked all three of them upside the head.

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

"No fair, Miss-Merry-Must-Marry!"

Merida's glare deepened when she heard the nickname. "One, do not call me Miss-Merry-Must-Marry, Harris! You know I hate that nickname! Two, the day I marry Ryan Macintosh, the same lad who threw a tantrum at the last Highland Games just because he couldn't shoot a perfect bullseye with a bow and arrow, will be the day that Maudie finally accepts the fact that you three wee devils are all but impossible to catch whenever you scheme to get sweets! And three, you boys were much better off when you _didn't_ speak!"

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris just kept grinning cheekily in return, not at all put off by their big sister's words.

They were little trouble makers, the three princes of Dunbroch. Make no mistake about that.

Elinor shot all four of her children a pointed look of disapproval. "Enough! All of you! We are not back in the Highlands right now! Everyone in Arendelle is looking to us as the faces of our country! Behave yourselves! And remember to smile! The lords and their sons are walking our way!"

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris scowled irritably as they folded their arms across their small chests in perfect unison with one another, but Merida did as Elinor asked and forced her lips to turn upward into an acceptably polite smile.

There was only one reason why Merida was putting up a good front when it came to nicely greeting the lords and their sons as they disembarked right now, and why she had allowed her mother to squeeze her into this terribly uncomfortable dress and wimple.

If she played the part of a kind and well-mannered princess all throughout the coronation today and the grand ball planned afterwards tonight, her mother would pull some strings and politely ask the new queen if she, Merida, could be allowed to ride her horse Angus in the forest just outside the capitol city and shoot a few arrows with her bow. Not at any animals of course, as that would automatically be considered illegal poaching, but just at the bark of a few choice trees.

She had to keep her eyes on the prize.

One day of acting like a princess.

And then she could change her fate all over again by being herself out in the beautiful evergreen forest.

She could be a dutiful daughter and put up with all the stifling rules of high society for one day. And even if her mother hadn't promised to grant her this reward for being respectful at the new Queen Elsa's coronation, Merida would have still done her best to behave. After all, even though Arendelle had mysteriously locked its gates ten years back for reasons unknown to every neighboring kingdom, Dunbroch had still remained on good terms with them and had come all this way to continue offering the Norwegian country their hand in friendship.

She just had to be nice and charming with all the foreign nobles for one full day to make a good impression.

She could make it through one full day.

The clan lords, Lord Malcom Macintosh, Lord Duncan MacGuffin, and Lord Ewan Dingwall, strolled purposefully away from their ships with their sons and fellow clansmen following closely behind them. Just like Merida's family, the three noble lords and their sons were dressed in their best for this important event. They all wore the traditional tartan robes in their clan's color – Macintosh in red, MacGuffin in yellow, and Dingwall in light green – but what really took Merida aback for a moment was that Lord Macintosh and his son were not bare chested as they usually were with blue war paint covering their bodies, although there was still some painted on their faces. The tomboyish princess didn't understand at first why the father and son were not as they usually were, but then she realized that while being bare chested and covered in blue war paint was perfectly acceptable to greet her royal family back home in the Highlands, in a foreign Norwegian country, such an act would be considered a high insult to the new queen. No, just a small splash of blue paint on their faces was all that Lord Malcom Macintosh and his son could afford to do to remain in touch with their clan roots while here in Arendelle.

She was brought out of her musing when the three large groups finally reached her and her family and respectfully bowed to all of them.

"Your majesties, your highnesses," called out Lord Duncan MacGuffin. "Glad to see that you all arrived safely."

Fergus heartily chuckled as he slapped the bulging leader of the MacGuffin clan on the back in a friendly manner. "You as well! You as well! The four clans united again at the coronation of the new queen of our allied country Arendelle! This will make a great bard song one day, won't you agree?"

Lord Ewan Dingwall chuckled himself and shook a bit of his wiry white hair as he nodded. "Too true, your majesty! I think I speak for everyone here when I say that this will be a coronation to remember!"

Queen Elinor smiled kindly as she nodded to the white-haired lord of the Dingwall clan. "I'm sure the new Queen Elsa will agree with you, Lord Dingwall. And you all remember our children, I take it? Our daughter Merida, and our sons Hamish, Hubert, and Harris?"

Lord Malcom Macintosh let out an amused guffaw as he bowed down before the three princes and the princess. "Aye, aye! Who could forget the headstrong princess and her three mischievous younger brothers? And of course, allow us to present our own sons once again!"

He and Lord Duncan and Lord Ewan all gestured proudly to their sons standing beside them, and Merida had to fight the urge to roll her eyes and scoff when she saw them.

Ryan Macintosh, Alan MacGuffin, and Wee Dingwall were all but miniature copies of their fathers. Ryan was tall and rather athletic-looking, with wavy dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a large prominent nose. He was bowing exaggeratedly to Merida as he sent a haughty, seductive smirk her way, one that he apparently believed would impress her. But Merida was anything but impressed. Ryan was an egotistical and melodramatic ass that flirted with any lady possessing an ample chest and an hourglass figure. Like she had told her brothers, the day she fell in love with him would be the day their always nervous servant Maudie stopped trying to hide sweets from the triplets and just left them out in plain sight for them to find.

Alan MacGuffin, on the other hand, was just as tall and large as his father, but he did not possess the same thick blonde beard that Lord Duncan did. Instead he had a bit of stubble around his chin that he had yet to shave. His bright blue eyes were staring at Merida rather bashfully, as he was a rather shy and timid lad despite his enormous size. Merida just smiled politely and nodded to him when her eyes locked onto his. Personally, she thought he was the nicest one out of her three suitors. In his case, it was the fact that she couldn't understand half of what he said ninety percent of the time, since he always spoke in a traditional Doric dialect, that made her keep her distance from the MacGuffin heir.

And finally, there was Wee Dingwall… who was cut from a whole other cloth all together. He was the shortest one out of the three of them, and was lanky rather than muscular like Ryan and Alan. He had blonde hair that stuck straight up in the air like his father's, pale skin, a long thin nose, somewhat big ears, and his blue eyes were, as usual, not even really _looking_ at Merida as he bowed to her. He always seemed to have this blank and vacant expression on his face that showed he was not completely together in the head. If Merida had not gone against tradition last year by going against her mother's wishes and competing in the archery competition in the annual Highland Games, she would be married to him right now, since he had initially won the games quite by accident before she stepped in. Thankfully though, that had not happened. She considered Wee Dingwall to be nice enough during the rare instances that he zoned back in to reality, but Merida honestly didn't know how she would have been able to live in this world if she had been forced to marry him.

Truth be told, the headstrong princess didn't know how she was ever supposed to pick from any of them eventually one day.

"Princess Merida! How lovely to see you again!" Ryan said with a sly undertone in his voice, going so far as to take hold of one of Merida's hands and kiss it as he winked at her. "Have you missed me?"

It took every bit of willpower that Merida had to not snatch her hand back and give the dark-haired heir to the Macintosh clan a good right hook to the eye. His attempts to charm her only succeeded in making her nauseated. "Hello, Ryan. I've been counting the days until I had to see your face again," she said with forced politeness.

That wasn't even a lie exactly. She had indeed been counting the days when she would be face to face with all three of her suitors.

Counting down the number of days she had left before she had to force herself to put up with Ryan Macintosh in particular, that is.

Ryan grinned at her response and opened his mouth to say more, but that was when the shy Alan MacGuffin timidly stepped forward and politely nodded to her.

"It's nice tae see ye again, Princess Merida. Hiv ye been brawly?" he said in a fast, nervous blur of traditional Doric as he gazed shyly at her.

No one in attendance, other than Alan's father, had the slightest idea as to what Alan had said to her, least of all Merida herself. But still, she forced herself to dip down into a small, acceptable curtsy as she smiled back.

"I've been well, thank you. And I hope you have as well."

A relieved, happy smile spread across Alan's face at her response. He had clearly been terrified that she might sneer at him for not speaking in normal, everyday English. Merida nodded to him once, and then turned her attention to Wee Dingwall so he could greet her properly next and they could all start their long march through the Arendelle village to reach the castle.

But to Merida's complete surprise, Wee wasn't even looking at her. His generally short attention-span was fixed on something out on the blue waters of the city fjord. The princess blinked, but then her expression became very fixed with suppressed rage. She knew Wee wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she never thought him to be rude enough to completely ignore her upon meeting her again.

To Merida's utter relief, she wasn't the only one there who was offended by Wee not even greeting her. Ewan looked confused, her father looked furious, and even her mother looked rather stony.

"Lord Dingwall? Is there some reason as to why your son is not greeting our daughter?" Elinor asked, her words level, but undeniably displeased by this turn of events.

Lord Ewan initially jumped, but just as he was about to try and direct Wee Dingwall's attention toward Merida and the rest of the Dunbroch royal family, Wee finally spoke up. But his words were not of a pleasant greeting. They were of both bewilderment and curiosity.

"I didn't know Vikings were coming to this coronation. Were you aware of this, Dad? Your majesties?" he asked, finally looking away from whatever he had been looking at across the fjord to stare quizzically at his father first and then at King Fergus and Queen Elinor.

His words took everyone standing there aback, and within seconds, all heads turned to look out at the fjord where he had been looking a moment ago. Sure enough, there were a few latecomer boats sailing across the fjord to reach the city docks.

Viking longboats.

It was impossible to make a mistake as to where the boats originated from thanks to the dragon carvings on the ships' bows, and the pictures of dragons sewn into the white sails.

Within seconds of this discovery, nearly all the Scotsmen standing on the dock were shouting out in an angry uproar. Even Merida was boiling mad. Vikings were coming to this coronation? _Vikings?!_ Her country's sworn enemies?! How dare the new Queen Elsa toy with her people's political dispute by inviting bloodthirsty, horrible Vikings here to bear witness to this event when they, the good and faithful allies of Arendelle, who had never once raised a sword against the Norwegian country, were already coming to wish her well! Oh! When she got her hands on her bow, she would—!

"No one is to do to anything in regards to the Viking visitors."

Merida snapped out of her train of thought as her head and the heads of all the other clansmen quickly whipped around. Her mother had her authoritative queen's face on right now as she gazed rather seriously at everyone, silently letting everyone standing here on the dock know that there would be serious repercussions if anyone dared to disobey this order.

"Mum?"

"Elinor?"

"But Mum—!"

"They're Vikings!"

"Evil and murderous—!"

Elinor merely raised her hand, and the confused murmurs from her daughter and husband and the angry protests from her three sons were all immediately silenced. When Elinor Dunbroch tapped into her queenly mode, she could command an entire armada to listen to her without so much as batting an eye.

"No one," she said in such a deadly whisper, none of them dared to look away from her as she spoke, "is to do anything in regards to the Viking visitors. Do not antagonize them in any way, and should they antagonize any of you, do not fall for their taunts. We are guests here in this country, and we will act respectfully to Queen Elsa's guests for her coronation. Should it be discovered that anyone here tried to provoke a fight with the Vikings during the duration of our stay here in Arendelle, he or she will answer directly to me and to the king. Is that clear?"

She said this with such conviction that everyone quickly nodded to show they understood. With the obvious exception of Elinor's headstrong daughter, there was yet to be a person who lived that had found the courage to say 'no' to the queen of Dunbroch.

"Good. Now, may I suggest we get going? It is not polite to arrive late for such an important ceremony."

All the Scottish visitors nodded again, and one by one, everyone obediently followed the royal family of the Highlands as they made their way away from the Arendelle harbor and toward the beautiful castle in the distance. It was so different compared to the castle of Dunbroch back home in Scotland. The stronghold of Clan Dunbroch was of an earthy design, made to look strong and unyielding with its stone structure, but still rather simple at the same time. But the castle of the royal family of Arendelle? It was a beautiful, pristine castle with many tall towers and green gables and an enormous wall surrounding it that had one main castle gate.

That gate had remained locked to everyone outside the royal family and those that worked in the palace for the past decade, but now, finally, they were going to be permanently opened again. The very idea was enough to distract the hotheaded Scotts from their angry musings about the fact that Vikings were also attending the coronation for the new queen, and all thoughts and conversations returned to the excitement of meeting the new ruler of Arendelle.

Well, almost everyone, that is.

Merida was not distracted in the slightest by the Arendelle castle and its new ruler and she gazed over her shoulder to glare with utmost loathing at the approaching Viking longboats while she joined the rest of their party in hurrying through the village. Vikings were a menace to the world. She had promised her mother that she would play nice tonight in order to be granted a little bit of freedom for the remainder of this trip, but come tomorrow, should she encounter one such disgusting, barbaric pig, he was going to be used exclusively for target practice with her arrows.

* * *

"So, this is Arendelle, Dad?"

"Sure is, Hiccup. If things go well at the negotiations tomorrow, we might create the first political alliance in many generations for our tribe outside of the archipelago."

"Well, that just adds to the pressure in setting a good impression today, doesn't it? Dad, you do realize that these people in this kingdom are part of a monarchy, right? I don't think they're going to take well to our people visiting…"

"We have to try at least, Hiccup. Trader Johann can only bring us so many supplies at a time. We need to start looking at trading with other countries if we want mass quantities of supplies at a time."

"Yeah, yeah. I know…"

Nineteen-year-old Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III turned away from his father as he shifted a bit of his rich auburn hair out of his face and leaned up against the railing, gazing out across the ocean blue waters to catch a glimpse of a picture-perfect view of the kingdom of Arendelle. His bright green eyes lit up from seeing such a beautiful castle just off the horizon. He also had a number of freckles dotting his cheeks and a small, barely noticeable white scar just below his bottom lip on the side of his face. He was of an average height for a teen boy his age, which was strange considering that for half of his life growing up on his small island of Berk back up in the Barbaric Archipelago, Hiccup had been considered the runt of the litter. That was actually part of the reason why he had been named Hiccup in the first place. The first reason was because Viking parents believed that a hideous name would frighten off gnomes and trolls. As if the charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that in the first place. But the second reason was because, despite being the son of the chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, Hiccup had initially been born premature and very, very tiny. Despite his long dead mother, Valka, believing that he wouldn't live to see his first birthday, his father, Chief Stoick the Vast, never doubted for a moment that Hiccup would make it. But he was still named Hiccup regardless.

Up until four years ago, back when Hiccup was fifteen, Stoick's hopes that his only son would grow up to be a great leader to their tribe had all but dwindled away to nonexistence, considering that Hiccup was, in Stoick's own words, the worst Viking that Berk had ever seen. Hiccup had even earned himself the nickname of being called Hiccup the Useless, considering that he had been small and gangly rather than tall and muscular like the other Viking boys his age. He was clumsy and accident-prone and had a knack for creating disasters whenever he tried to help out in the village, and he couldn't lift a hammer, couldn't swing an axe, and couldn't even properly wield a sword.

And why was it so important that Berk had a perfect successor for its next chief?

The answer came down to one word and one word alone:

Dragons.

For over three hundred years, every Viking tribe in the Barbaric Archipelago had dealt with dragon attacks on an almost daily basis as they raided their villages and took their livestock. Most people would simply up and leave such a dangerous place. But no, not them. They were Vikings. They had stubbornness issues. They instead spent the past three hundred years defending their islands against the overgrown lizards with wings, taking pleasure in spilling their blood and mounting their reptilian heads on the walls of their Great Halls for all to see.

There were many kinds of dragons in fact. The Deadly Nadder, the Gigantic Gronckle, the Hideous Zippleback, and the Monstrous Nightmare were all some of the most common types and were generally the ones to attack Berk daily for their various flocks of sheep and few yaks, but there was one dragon that was more dangerous and rare than any other dragon out there.

The Night Fury.

The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Viking students who were still learning how to kill dragons in Dragon Training were always instructed to never engage this dragon. Their best chance was to hide and pray it would not find them.

But of course, for one outcast Viking teenage boy who was always looking for a way to prove himself to both his father and indeed the entire village who looked down on him, he thought of the Night Fury as a worthy challenge.

Using his brain to construct a type of catapult that would bring down the dragon as it flew about in the sky, Hiccup had been all but ready to kill the black dragon of nightmares and present its head on a platter for Stoick and everyone else in his village to see. However, after finding the Night Fury looking so sad and helpless with those cat-like green eyes after he shot it out of the sky, and seeing that he had accidentally ripped off one of its tail fins when the net from the bolas he had used had wrapped around the dragon, Hiccup's naturally kind nature had kicked in. He had not only freed the dragon, but he had even befriended it and gave it the name of Toothless since the dragon had retractable teeth, something that no other Viking had ever dared to do in the past. He even constructed a new tail fin for Toothless so he could be able to fly once again, but that new tail fin had to be operated by him, the inventor, while up in the air. Hiccup had been the first Viking to ever ride on a dragon and see the world from high above in the clouds.

When his secret became known to the village, Stoick had been furious with his son, even going so far as to disown him. But after Stoick had all but led the entire village on what was nothing short of a suicide mission to destroy the dragon nest, Hiccup had to fly in atop Toothless and kill the queen of the nest, the mountain-sized dragon known as the Red Death, to save everyone that he cared about. Hiccup had nearly died over the course of the epic battle, but he had been saved at the very last moment by Toothless, who the Viking heir was not in the slightest bit ashamed to admit was now and would forever be his very best friend. Unfortunately, Toothless wasn't able to save all of him, though. He lost his left leg up to his shin while fighting against the evil dragon, and now in its place was a metal prosthetic leg. It was hard to walk every once in a while thanks to the handicap, but after four years of practice, Hiccup did just fine now. Stoick had admitted that he had been wrong about dragons after Hiccup's encounter with the Red Death, and the two were not only on good terms with one another once again, but now Berk had no shortage of Vikings riding dragons.

The dragon killing days were over and done with forever.

Dragon training days, though?

Those had only just begun.

Ever since the Red Death had been killed, Hiccup had been named the Dragon Training Instructor on Berk. He had first taught his small circle of friends how to befriend and ride dragons, and then his father and his mentor, Gobber the Belch, and then he went on to teach everyone on the Isle of Berk. There wasn't a single member of the Hairy Hooligan tribe now, be it young or old, male or female, that didn't know how to at least make friends with a dragon, even if they all didn't choose to ride them.

There was now only one thing left to do with the new knowledge on how to deal with dragons.

Sell it.

And that was the only reason why they were here in this boat right now, rowing their way towards the Arendelle docks for the coronation of this unknown Norwegian queen.

While Stoick undeniably cared now about all the dragons on Berk, Hiccup knew he cared about the well-being of his tribe more. Trader Johann was running low on supplies to offer them when he came to barter with them lately, which left the island low on goods to support themselves with when the next episode of snow descended on them. So Stoick had decided that the best course of action to take was to look for new allies outside of the Barbaric Archipelago to try and sell the knowledge of dragon training to in exchange for tradable goods. Although it was highly rare, dragons would occasionally appear outside the group of Viking islands. People should know that there was a better method to dealing with them other than rushing forward with sharp blades and bows and arrows.

Deep down, Hiccup knew that his father was only acting in the way a good chief of the village should by trying to look after everyone through selling off the knowledge of dragon training, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel conflicted about all this. He didn't befriend and learn to ride Toothless four years ago just to have the knowledge he worked so hard to discover all on his own be sold to the highest bidder. To him, it felt like that they were now using Toothless and his dragon brethren for their own self-serving reasons.

It truly felt wrong.

The young heir sighed as he ran his fingers through his messy auburn locks. Whether he liked this predicament or not, it wasn't like he had any choice but to go along with it. And besides, there were worst things that could have happened when his father said that Berk needed more goods as soon as possible if they were going survive this coming winter.

He could have decided to have the Vikings back on their island sharpen their weapons, mount their dragons, and fly away to the first village just outside the archipelago so as to raid and loot the place.

Or, worse, his father could have considered getting him betrothed to some Viking heiress from one of the other tribes, or tried to hook him up with one of the noble ladies that were undoubtedly going to be here at this coronation.

The very idea of marrying some girl he had never even met made Hiccup shudder. It didn't matter that he was technically the heir of the tribe. If his father ever tried to do that to him, he would hop on Toothless and wouldn't stop flying until he reached the land far down south that Trader Johann had once told him about. Where it was supposedly hot all year around and there was sand as far as the eye could see and stretched out for miles and miles.

The only thing was, he wouldn't go with only Toothless for company. He wouldn't leave Berk unless he brought—

"Hey, Babe? Why the long face?"

Speak of the devil.

A genuine smile spread across Hiccup's face when he heard the feminine voice, and he hurriedly turned his head to smile at the girl who had approached him, only to be momentarily surprised when he found his lips locked directly onto the set that belonged to his girlfriend for the past four years.

Astrid Hofferson.

Aspiring shield maiden of Berk.

Despite being initially taken aback by the enthusiastic greeting, Hiccup felt himself grin into the kiss as he closed his eyes and started kissing back. It astounded him every day that he was lucky enough to have Astrid of all girls as his girlfriend. He had had a crush on her ever since they, and the rest of their circle of friends, had all turned twelve and were old enough to start realizing the differences between boys and girls. She was beautiful, what with her long, silky blonde hair pulled back in its usual French braid style and expressive blue eyes. Before he had taught everyone that dragons were truly good and wonderful creatures, Astrid had been one of the strongest students in Dragon Training, and she used to get so jealous of him when he slowly became the best student in her place by using the dragon training techniques he learned from Toothless in the ring to subdue the dragons rather than kill them. But after she found out about his best friend, and he proceeded to all but kidnap her for a – dare he say it – rather romantic flight to change her mind about dragons, she had not only been his girlfriend, but his biggest supporter in dragon training as well.

Granted, Astrid wasn't exactly the picture-perfect princess people tend to think about when they imagined a princess. But she was a Viking princess, and that made her even more exotic and amazing to Hiccup Haddock. She was bossy, short-tempered, a fierce warrior with her favorite axe, and tended to be a perfectionist, but at the same time, she had a caring heart and was undeniably loyal to everyone she cared about. Be it him, her Deadly Nadder that she had named Stormfly, their friends, the village, and bringing honor to her family. And she loved him. That was something that the timid twelve-year-old boy who had shyly watched her from the windows of the blacksmith shop back on Berk had never imagined would one day happen. Unrequited love between himself and the heiress to the Hofferson clan was what he expected would become of his feelings – never mutual feelings of love and affection.

Before he met the Night Fury in the woods, he used to think that the gods – if there were any out there – truly hated him.

But now, after finally becoming lifelong friends with Toothless, gaining the respect of his father and tribe, and having the incredible Astrid Hofferson as his girlfriend, Hiccup knew that they favored him instead.

Who else could be responsible for making him so lucky?

When the couple finally broke apart for air, Hiccup couldn't keep the grin off his face as he gazed into his girlfriend's eyes. "Well, if I knew I'd get a greeting like that, I think I'd get lost in thought more often, Milady!" he joked.

Astrid rolled her eyes as she playfully swatted his shoulder. "Oh, please! Look so serious all time and you'll be as stern as your dad is in ten years! No way am I dating someone who doesn't look like they remember how to smile."

"Duly noted," he replied, taking the opportunity to snake his arm around her shoulders as he gazed back out across the fjord toward the village they were still approaching.

"You nervous?" she asked.

Hiccup initially shook his head no, but paused as he thought better of it, and then shrugged before nodding.

"I'd be stupid if I wasn't. Leaders of other countries outside the Archipelago are supposed to be a lot more formal at stuff like this than we are. Plus, we need to make a good impression on this new queen if we want to strike up a trade route with them. And then there's Toothless…"

"I take it you're worried that someone might discover him out there in the forest before you and your dad can talk with this so-called Queen Elsa at the negotiations tomorrow?

Hiccup stiffly nodded. Hiding Toothless out in the forest beyond the fjord was the reason why their ships were arriving a little later than all the other guests' ships. In order to prove to the new Norwegian queen that dragons could in fact be tamed, they needed a dragon to demonstrate with, thus one dragon had to be brought all the way from Berk to here in Norway. Hiccup didn't hesitate to nominate Toothless for the task. He didn't want to be separated from his best friend for several weeks while out on this diplomatic mission. And that door swung both ways. Toothless wanted to be with him, too. Smuggling Toothless to Norway had actually been very easy. While everyone else that came on this trip rode on the boats, Hiccup had simply flown the entire way over their heads on Toothless until earlier this morning when they drew closer to Arendelle. From there, things got harder. They had to stop the boats for at least two hours so that Hiccup could find a good place to hide Toothless out in the forest outskirts of the village that would ensure that the dragon would not accidentally be found before tomorrow, but was also close enough to the fjord so that the Night Fury could fish for its own meals later tonight after it grew dark so none of the townsfolk would see it. Thankfully, Hiccup had managed to find a nice thicket of evergreen trees just a little way away from the shores of the water, and got Toothless settled in for the day with the promise that he would come back to check on him later tonight after the party before going to bed.

That being said, it was still possible that his best friend could be discovered by some nosey villager. That's how Astrid found out about him back before Toothless was publicly revealed to the people of Berk.

"'Course I'm worried about him! I don't like the idea of hiding him out in the forest. It's like I'm fifteen again and trying to keep him a secret. What if someone finds him before tomorrow and goes and tells everyone? The queen will probably order to have him killed!"

Astrid gave him a quick peck on the cheek to try and calm him down. "It'll be all right. It's not like it was back when we were learning to kill dragons. You're not hiding him for weeks. It's just for one night. Toothless will be fine."

"Yeah, I hope so. I can't stand the thought of something happening to him…"

The couple stood there in silence for a short time, but then Hiccup was all but shoved forward and nearly fell over the edge of the railing when a large hand slammed down on his back, and obnoxious laughter filled his ears.

"Hey, cousin! You ready to act as an all mighty diplomat today?"

An amused look spread across Hiccup's face as he gathered his bearings from the unnecessarily hard shove and turned around. He and Astrid had been joined by the rest of their circle of Viking teen friends. There was Snotlout Jorgenson, his cousin on his deceased mother's side, the insane brother and sister twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, and then the second dragon expert in the group after Hiccup himself, Fishlegs Ingerman. They all used to bully him back when they were kids, but those days were long gone. Now, they were all a tight clique of best friends.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess," said Hiccup with an absent-minded shrug. "The real question is, are you guys ready to act like you actually know what manners are when talking to other people when we dock? This isn't Berk anymore. The new queen will expect proper respect from us."

It was a fair question. Vikings weren't exactly known for being on their best behavior when around outsiders.

The twins scowled in unison.

"Manners? Don't make me barf!" Ruffnut scoffed.

"Acting polite is for suckers like you, Dude!" Tuffnut snickered. "You're the heir, which means you're the representative! You and the chief are the only ones here dressed to the absolute extremes, after all! I mean, look at you in that red tunic and leather vest! You look ridiculous!"

Hiccup blinked, but then chuckled a bit as he glanced down at himself. It was true that Vikings had little reason to ever dress up for formal occasions, so the fact that he was wearing a newly made red tunic with the symbol of the Berk Dragon Training Academy of Toothless curled up into himself stitched neatly into his sleeve underneath his usual brown leather vest was beyond unusual.

"Well, I won't deny that being dressed like this is pretty weird…" he said rather awkwardly.

Astrid huffed as she folded her arms across her semi-formal blue dress. "You have no right to ridicule him when you're wearing formal wear too, Tuffnut," she retorted. "We all have to dress properly today for this so-called queen's coronation."

Snotlout grimaced at the thought. "I wish it wasn't necessary," he grumbled. "Dressing up like one of those rich snobs? So stupid!"

"It's only for one day, Snotlout, relax," Hiccup muttered with a roll of his eyes. "You guys only have to show up in dressier clothes for the party after the queen is crowned the queen. After that, you guys can wear whatever you want for the remainder of our visit. It's just Dad and me who will be at the coronation itself and handling the negotiations in rich clothing tomorrow."

"Doesn't change the fact that we still have to wear these stupid clothes now!" Tuffnut groaned.

"I'm burning this dress with Barf's fire as soon as we get back home," Ruffnut added, glancing down at the dress she had been forced to put on. "I don't know how girls in these other countries wear stuff like this. Seriously, how do they stand all the layers in the skirt?!"

"At least be thankful that these dresses don't need to be worn with those things people here down south call corsets," Astrid shrugged. "Hiccup? No offense, but I don't care if you are my boyfriend. I would _never_ have come on this trip if I had been forced to wear one of those horrible things. They're impossible to breathe in, and there's no chance in Hel that I could have been able to throw my axe while wearing one."

It took every bit of willpower Hiccup possessed to not turn red in embarrassment as his girlfriend spoke with an annoyed look on her face. The idea of Astrid in a corset – and only a corset – was enough to make his head spin. Think safer thoughts! Snotlout in a corset! Getting slobbered all over by Toothless! Those kinds of things!

"Uh, none taken," he rasped, still doing his best to not let what he was thinking appear on his face for everyone to see.

Thankfully, no one there noticed his nervousness, because right at that moment, the last member of their group that had yet to speak up suddenly gasped.

"Um, guys? Hiccup? You might want to go get your dad and Gobber. We have a situation…"

All heads turned to look over at their oversized friend. Fishlegs had been rather quiet this whole time, choosing not to engage at all in the conversation as he instead looked out at Arendelle through the scope of a spyglass he had purchased from Trader Johann before embarking with all the other members of their tribe who had decided to go along on this great mission. But right now, he had finally lowered the handheld telescope away from his eyes as he stared anxiously across the waves toward the rapidly approaching city. Whatever he had seen had obviously made him very, very uneasy.

Hiccup however was the one most confused out of their circle of friends. "Huh? Gobber and my dad? Why?"

"Just do it! They're going to want to see this," the Ingerman clansmen insisted.

Hiccup blinked, but nonetheless parted ways from his girlfriend and friends to walk over toward where his father was standing and talking next to Gobber, the one-armed and one-legged blacksmith back on Berk who so happened to be the boy's honorary uncle and who he was apprenticed to.

Stoick noticed his son approach, and a smile appeared underneath the great thickets of red hair he had for his enormous beard. "Excited yet, son?"

Gobber chortled, and slung his good arm around Hiccup's shoulder. "Of course he is! It's not every day that Vikings attempt to make trade negotiations with places outside the Archipelago! Let alone with the queen of a country!"

Hiccup awkwardly chuckled back, but then he shrugged himself out of Gobbers' grasp. "Uh, yeah, sure… Listen, I don't mean to change the subject, but Fishlegs says that there's a problem."

"A problem?" Stoick repeated, his bushy eyebrows furrowing. "What kind of problem?"

"Dunno. He was looking out at the city through his spyglass and then got all nervous. Says he wants you and Gobber here pronto."

His father stared at him curiously for an extra moment, but then waved his hand motioning for Hiccup and Gobber to follow him as he made his way over to the overweight Viking teen, leaving both his one-legged friend and one-legged son no choice but to follow after him.

"You needed something, Fishlegs?" Stoick asked.

Fishlegs glanced nervously back and forth between Stoick and the approaching shoreline for several moments, but then finally found the courage to speak.

"Yeah, um, Chief… Well… I was looking through my spyglass a minute ago… I just wanted to get a better look at the castle, you know? There's nothing like that back on Berk! I was… Well… I didn't mean to see it, but—"

"Oh, spit it out, boy! We ain't got all day!" said Gobber.

Fishlegs jumped, clearly startled. But then he spat out his words in a frenetic rush.

"The Scottish nobility came to this thing!" he gasped.

He said this a bit too loudly, because within seconds, every Viking that had been on board both this boat and the other two a few meters off on either side of it suddenly grew very quiet for a time.

And then all the screaming erupted.

"Scotts are here?!"

"Those mongrels!"

"How many are there?! I'll deliver them all to Helheim's gate with my bare hands!"

As the shouting commenced, Hiccup felt his stomach churn into tight knots. This was bad. Really, really bad. In all his dad's preparations to organize this political alliance with the new Norwegian queen after her coronation, the one thing that no one ever anticipated was Scottish royals and nobles also coming to the ceremony to wish the new Queen Elsa well in her reign. How could they all have been stupid enough to not consider that the royal family and the nobles from Scotland would come to this?

They were all idiots.

While Hiccup had nothing against people hailing from Scotland and even personally believed that the feud the Vikings had with the Scottish was rather pointless, considering that it all started over a disagreement over which side could have which sets of land to build their villages and homes on from some war that broke out who knows how many years ago, the rest of Berk didn't feel that way. How could they hate people from a faraway land that they as a tribe hadn't even encountered in generations because they had been far too busy dealing with the dragon attacks?

How were they going to get through this important diplomatic mission if everyone other than him on board each of these three ships looked about ready to grab hold of the swords, axes, hammers, and shields that they had brought with them all the way from Berk and start attacking every last Scotsman standing there on the docks the instant they disembarked from their ships?

" _Enough!"_

Hiccup and just about every other Viking on board the various longboats jumped a bit from the volume of Stoick's booming shout, and within an instant, all was silent on the water as they continued drifting towards land.

Stoick kept a hardened look on his face as he addressed his people. "I will not deny that I too am furious to discover that the new queen invited the royals from Scotland here to this coronation, but this changes nothing! We are here to establish a friendship and trade routes with Arendelle! If I find out that anyone here has gone behind my back to attack one of the Scottish visitors, he or she will be immediately sentenced to a blood eagle upon our return to Berk! Is that clear?!"

Panic spread across everyone's faces as they hastily nodded with wide eyes. Even Hiccup had to admit he was spooked by what his father had suggested. A blood eagle? The ritualistic execution of traitors? There hadn't been one on Berk in at least three generations, but part of Hiccup wondered that if his father hadn't changed his mind about dragons after the whole incident with the Red Death a few years back, if _he_ would have been sentenced to one due to how stubborn his father used to be. Stoick was dead serious about making sure the negotiations went well if he was threatening everyone with blood eagles to ensure that they wouldn't provoke any fights with the nobles from Scotland.

Upon seeing everyone readily agree to not provoke fight, Stoick nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, let's get moving! We're nearly there!"

There were murmurs of acknowledgement from people in all three boats, and everyone pitched in to adjusting the sails in order for them to catch the breath of the wind better so they could hurry up and reach the shore.

While Hiccup didn't exactly like the way his father had made everyone agree to behave themselves over the duration of the visit to Norway, by threatening everyone with the prospect of a blood eagle to make sure they didn't get into fights with the Scotsmen, he did have to admit that his words had the desired effect on the tribe. There likely wouldn't be any fights between his people and the nobles from Scotland. A few rude words and arguments, perhaps, but not any bar brawls. Or if there were to be any, they wouldn't be started by those from the Hairy Hooligan tribe.

"Geez! Hiccup, your dad can be so scary sometimes!" he heard Snotlout mutter behind him.

Hiccup rolled his eyes as he turned his attention back to his cousin and the rest of his friends. "Well they say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders…" he retorted with a slight shrug.

"It's easy to believe it, too," Tuffnut said.

"Yeah! He gets this big and scary look on his face before he shouts! I wouldn't be surprised if your dad managed to scare a dragon to death before you taught us that dragons were actually good!" Ruffnut proclaimed.

Hiccup awkwardly chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I don't know about that, but I guess it's possible…"

Astrid huffed. "Pity he had to forbid us all from trying to fight those dirty Scotts," she grumbled. "I would have loved to knock a few teeth out of one of their mouths! Teach them all a lesson about what it means for a Viking woman to fight for both honor and glory!"

"Are you kidding, Astrid?! It's a good thing Stoick enforced that rule! Everyone would have jumped off this boat ready to spill blood if he hadn't!" Fishlegs insisted.

Hiccup couldn't help but nod at his assumption. This was one instance where he couldn't agree with his girlfriend. "Fishlegs is right, Astrid. If we dock and start a fight with the Scottish visitors the second we see them, there's no way the queen will set up trade negotiations with us. You don't have to like them, but just… be tolerant of them, I guess. Don't pick a fight, okay?"

His girlfriend gave him a rather sour look, but she didn't argue with him, so Hiccup took that as a sign that she'd agreed to be civilized towards the nobles from Scotland over the course of their visit in Arendelle.

"Let's just forget about those damned Scotts, okay? I'm more interested in the queen and princess of this place! Do you think one of them may go for the macho type?" Snotlout cut in, proudly flexing the bulging muscles in his arms to display before them all.

Everyone blinked at the heir to the Jorgenson clan for several moments in utter disbelief, but then Tuffnut chortled as he stuck out his chest in what he obviously assumed was an impressive way.

"With you, Snotlout? Definitely not! They'd want a real man! Pretty girls like queens and princesses want a Thorston over a Jorgenson any day!"

"I doubt they're that pretty," Ruffnut snipped. "Me and Astrid here are probably a thousand times prettier than either of those southern girls!"

"Guys, I really don't think you should be talking about this," Hiccup advised, not even bothering to hide the nervousness in his voice. "Don't go to the party later tonight trying to flirt with them, please! I don't doubt they'd both be right offended if you tried to hit on them!"

"Hiccup's right," Astrid agreed. "Trying to put the moves on a new queen and her younger sister on the night of the queen's coronation party? That's a recipe for disaster! They'll probably kick us all right out of the kingdom if you dared to try that!"

Both Snotlout and Tuffnut blew hot air at the couple, clearly furious that they couldn't try to charm the royals while they were here, but they nodded to show they understood.

"What do you guys think the queen and princess are like?" Fishlegs asked suddenly. "I mean, I read up on Arendelle a bit while on the way here. Apparently, the castle has been completely closed off from the common population for the past ten years."

This news caught everyone's attention, and they turned to look at Fishlegs in surprise. "Ten years? You serious?" Ruffnut asked, clearly surprised.

Fishlegs nodded.

"What in Odin's beard for?" Snotlout asked.

"Well… no one really knows, to be honest. The last king and queen just closed the castle gates and fired a lot of the staff without warning one day back when the new Queen Elsa and Princess Anna were just kids. People tried to ask the monarchs why they did it, but all they said was that it was so their daughters could grow up in a stable family environment, whatever that means."

Hiccup's head was reeling from this new information. Why on earth did the previous king and queen of Arendelle close the gates like that? The explanation behind it made absolutely zero sense whatsoever. In a kingdom like Arendelle, two prospective heirs to the throne were supposed to be in the spotlight all the time, not hidden away from the rest of the world. It was all so mysterious.

"Strange," he muttered. "So… I take it that this would be the first time that the gates are going to be open for a grand party in over ten years?"

"Well, technically the gates were opened to the common people down in the village a few years ago for a couple hours when the memorial service was arranged for the late king and queen after they died so that everyone could be able to pay their respects to them. But other than that, yeah. Pretty much."

"I don't know how I could live like that, being locked away in one building for my entire life. I'd probably go mad," Astrid stated.

"Wonder what the queen and the princess are like after being hidden away from the world after so many years…" Fishlegs questioned again.

"Eh… probably just two dunderheads, if you ask me," Ruffnut grumbled.

"No way! I bet they're both totally hot!" Snotlout grinned.

"They're bound to be a mystery," Hiccup murmured, his eyes now focused on the royal castle as their boat, along with the other two boats from their tribe, finally pulled into the city docks at long last. "And I bet they're both even more excited for the gates to finally be opened again than any of us are."

* * *

"Elsa! Is that the dress you're going to wear today?"

"Yes. Yes, it is. What do you think?"

"You look so regal! Like a true queen! You're going to rock it today!"

Eighteen-year-old Elsa laughed as she modeled the dress she had commissioned for her long-awaited coronation to her fifteen-year-old younger sister before turning around to glance at her reflection in the bedroom mirror. In addition to the beautiful teal dress that had long black sleeves, a sweetheart neckline trimmed in bronze and maroon, and purple rosemaling on both the bodice and skirt, she wore a long magenta cape that flowed down off her shoulders, dark brown flats with teal soles, and a lovely pair of cyan gloves with teal designs imprinted upon them that matched the rest of the outfit. With her blue eyes shadowed in a dusting of lavender eyeshadow, her cheeks possessing the tiniest amount of pink blush, and a soft layer of magenta lipstick covering her thin lips, Elsa couldn't help but think that she looked just like her and Anna's late mother back when Idun was her age, based on the paintings she had seen of her mother around the castle.

Except for her hair, that is.

She had yet to arrange her hair into an appropriate style for such an important day. While Elsa preferred to wear her hair in its usual French braid style, it was an impractical hairstyle to wear for such an important occasion.

A French braid was far too casual for her own coronation. She wanted to arrange it up into a beautiful coronet. That was the style that their mother always wore her hair in before she and their father passed away. That way she would have a little bit of her mother with her today as she took her vows as the new queen. There was no need to worry about honoring her father though. Her father would be with her all throughout the ceremony in the chapel, as she would be sworn in as the next queen by the bishop before all the royals and nobles that had been invited to the event while holding up the royal orb and scepter that he had held years and years ago, when he was named the king of Arendelle.

Still though… as she stared at her reflection, contemplating the prospect of borrowing her late mother's usual hairstyle, the color her hair continued to perturb her.

It was the fact that Elsa had platinum-blonde hair rather than brown like Idun's that made it difficult to picture.

Elsa had to fight the urge to frown so as not to make Anna worry as she stared at the reflection of her hair in the mirror. It had been exactly ten years since she woke up one morning claiming that it was odd that she was a blonde rather than a brunette, even though the rest of her family claimed that it was odd for her to think that way. Anna never understood why Elsa continued to ponder the strange questions surrounding her blonde hair, but Elsa knew it was mystery that she desperately needed to solve. Neither of her parents had such white and beautiful hair, and neither did any of their distant relatives. Elsa had heard that their cousin Rapunzel, who they were both going to meet for the first time today, had blonde hair rather than being a brunette like her parents, but that didn't count because it was simply a side effect from the magic of the healing flower that had saved their Aunt Arianna while she was pregnant with their cousin.

So where did her white-blonde hair come from?

Despite Elsa's best efforts to hide her thoughts, Anna could tell that something was up. She and Elsa were more than just sisters. They were each other's best friends. If something was wrong, Elsa could hide it from everyone else in the world except her.

"Is something wrong, Elsa? Are you nervous about today?" she asked.

Elsa blinked, immediately snapping out of her musing, and then promptly shook her head.

"Oh, no! No, I'm not nervous…! Well, maybe I am, but that's not what I was thinking about. I was just pondering about my blonde hair."

"What? Again? Elsa, we've been over this a million times! Nobody cares that you have blonde hair rather than being a brunette like mother or a strawberry-blonde like father and me! You're perfect just as you are!"

Elsa cringed. "I know that, Anna. I know you've told me this before, but… but what if there's a legitimate reason why I look so different."

"Like what?"

"Well… I used to spend time looking into the royal family records. I know mother and father didn't have any blonde hair, so I thought maybe the blonde hair was just something that had skipped a generation, but no one on either side of the family has blonde hair like mine…"

"Again, Elsa, who cares? It's just hair!"

"It just seems strange, doesn't it? And mother and father used to get so uncomfortable whenever I brought it up… There has to be a reason!"

"Soon-to-be Queen Elsa in a few hours, in the name of our family sigil the crocus flower, I hereby declare that you are talking utter nonsense! It's the day you and I have been waiting for our entire lives! You officially becoming queen and me being your trusted right hand! We're going to rule the kingdom together after today, and you're more concerned about your hair?! And here I thought _I_ was the crazy one between the two of us!"

Elsa couldn't stop herself from laughing at that. "Yes, yes. You're right, Anna. I guess I'm just so nervous; I just started spouting nonsense again. Pay no attention to what I said."

Anna smiled in return. "Don't be nervous! You were born for this, Elsa! You're going to be a great queen! I know father did a good job at ruling the kingdom, but you're going to be at least a thousand times better! And do you know why?"

Elsa immediately nodded. "Of course I know why! Today marks the very last day that this castle will be isolated from the rest of the world! I don't know what possessed mother and father to lock the gates all those years ago, but those days are officially over. You and I, Anna, are not going to live the rest of our lives invisible to the world anymore, and we're not going to keep the servants here hidden either. Everyone in this castle deserves to be seen and appreciated."

Anna squealed with joy as she hugged her big sister tightly. "We're going to actually have people here in the castle again on a daily basis!" she cheered. "We're going to have banquets and balls and festivals! We'll see people other than just each other and the servants every day! We'll even be allowed to go down into the village to spend time with the townsfolk!"

"I know. It's going to be wonderful."

After ten years of living in a castle that had been closed off from the rest of civilization, due to whatever strange reasons their parents had for locking the castle gates, Elsa and Anna's lives were going to begin again. They had a chance to meet and talk to people.

It was going to be amazing.

But first, they had to finish getting ready.

"All right, Anna. Help me arrange my hair to look like mother's, will you? We need to hurry and finish getting ready. I might be dressed with my make-up done, but you're still in your nightgown! And besides, I still need to stop and check in on Emma and Jack before the ceremony starts. They both have very important jobs today, and do you remember what we decided to do for Jack? He doesn't even know yet! I forgot to give him the pin yesterday!"

"Oh, geez! You didn't tell him yet?! You're right! We do have to hurry! Where's the hairbrush and the blue ribbon?! We should weave it into the coronet for a little bit of extra oomph!"

"Good idea! You're always so clever, Anna!"

* * *

Elsa and Anna weren't the only ones in the palace who were excited for today and all the days to come in the castle after today's coronation.

There was one special little girl who was literally bouncing off the walls of her tiny bedroom as she got herself dressed.

Ten-year-old Emma Overland was squealing and giggling happily to herself as she hurriedly dressed in the special miniature formal green servant dress she was required to wear today for the coronation. Even though Emma was of age to start training to be a good member of the staff in the castle, and was even apprenticed to Gerda to learn how to be a good lady-in-waiting to the new queen one day, normally Elsa was more lenient about children wearing the required uniform. At least if they were under the age of twelve, that is. If they were twelve, the rules got stricter with servant apparel. Because of this, Emma and the rest of her circle of friends were generally allowed to run around the castle while wearing their normal everyday clothes as they learned their future duties as members of the castle staff for when they were all older.

But not today.

No, today Emma had to be dressed up in the small green uniform.

But the little girl didn't mind.

After all, none of the other servant kids were single-handedly selected by Elsa to be given the ever so important job today of carrying the royal tiara. It would be carried on a special pillow down the aisle in the chapel and presented to the bishop so that he could officially crown Elsa as the new queen.

The moment that thought popped into her head, Emma started squealing again as she paused in the midst of tugging on her proper black shoes to start hopping excitedly up and down. She was going to be a part of the ceremony to make Elsa the queen. Out of all the loyal castle employees that were both older and smarter than she was, Elsa had picked her. She was going to be the one to carry the queen's crown to the bishop. She was going to be part of the coronation ceremony. It showed just how much the new queen Elsa liked her since she picked her out of everyone else!

This was, without a doubt, going to be the single greatest and most important day of her life!

Not to mention, today was the day when her life was going to change for the better, too. Unlike Elsa and Anna, Emma and her friends Jamie and his three-year-old sister Sophie, the twins Caleb and Claude, Pippa, Monty, and Cupcake had no memory of what life was like outside these castle walls since King Agnar and Queen Idun had locked the gates back when they were all babies or not even born yet. With the gates finally being opened after ten long years, they were going to see what it was like to have parties and meet other guests in the castle for the very first time. She was going to create newer, happier memories inside this castle from here on out. She was going to have lots and lots of fun!

And so, Emma finished slipping into her shoes, buttoning up her dress, and ran a brush through her straight brown hair at record speeds before dashing as fast as she could out of her bedroom. Ever since Tobias had left and Kirsten died, the three-bedroom apartment had been resided in solely by her and Jack. Their parents' bedroom had been closed off after their mother died. Taking care of their mother's room was actually the only thing that had brought Jack out of his bedroom after locking himself in for nearly a week after she died with the king and queen at sea. Anything that their father left behind when he left their family was automatically thrown away, as Jack had no desire to keep anything of his, despite Emma's weak protests that it would be nice to keep at least a few of his things. But their mother's things? Those he had wrapped up into fresh sheets so that they wouldn't get ruined before storing them away into a number of crates that Elsa and Anna had been kind enough to provide them with for storage purposes. The room was basically an empty room containing a bedframe without a mattress on it now and a number of wooden crates surrounding it with their mother's most treasured belongings put away inside them, but Emma went inside a lot anyway, just to remember her warm and kind mother; and she occasionally unwrapped a few pieces of her simple everyday jewelry so she could just look at them. She missed her mother more than anything in the world. But the number of times Jack had gone in to reminiscence about Kirsten? Zero. Her big brother had never dared to step foot inside the room after he had finished cleaning it out. In Emma's little mind, her seemingly stoic and cold brother now treated their mother's death as simply something that happened and made no difference in their lives in the long run.

Out of all her older brother's faults when it came to being a cold person who seemed to consider no one worth the time of day, Emma had to say that that was the one thing that she definitely held a shred of resentment towards Jack for.

Never playing with her or letting her into his room?

That was one thing.

But acting as though their mother's life wasn't even worth remembering?

That bothered Emma.

She never brought it up, though. There was no point. Jack wouldn't change even if she did. And besides, even if it was possible for Emma to change one thing about her big brother, that wasn't what she would choose anyway. She would choose to have her big brother smile at her all the time and play with her when she asked. She would choose to have him open his door to her whenever she knocked on it. She would choose to have him hug her for the very first time in her life. Emma wondered what that was about anyway. Jack didn't touch people ever. She knew he was a neat freak when it came to dirt because he always wore those unnecessary white gloves on his hands, but actual physical contact with people? Zilch. Zip. Nada.

Well, whatever.

Jack was still her big brother at the end of the day.

She still believed in him like she believed in the Moonbeam Boy from his bedtime story so many years ago.

And she would never stop believing in him.

He would thaw his frozen heart and be the big brother she had always dreamed of having one day.

She just had to keep believing in him.

And speaking of believing in Jack, now was as good a time as any to try and get him to warm up to her. After all, he couldn't stay locked away in his bedroom all day today, not when he too had also been given an ever so important job at the coronation ceremony: carrying the royal gold orb and scepter down the aisle in the chapel with her to be given to the bishop so he could give them to Elsa. She wanted to walk downstairs to the royal chapel with him.

With a smile on her round, petite face, Emma strolled right up to Jack's bedroom door, and knocked politely on the white-painted wood.

"Hey, Jackie! I'm ready to go to the coronation! Do you wanna walk downstairs together?"

There was a brief pause followed by what sounded like a small _thump_ of something falling and landing hard on the floor from beyond the door.

"What happened, Jackie? Are you okay?" Emma called out worriedly.

"Everything's fine, Emma," Jack automatically answered. "I just… I just dropped something, that's all. You startled me."

"Oh, sorry. But never mind that! Let's go to the chapel together! They can't start the coronation without the Royal Crown Bearer and the Royal Orb and Scepter Bearer!"

"You go on ahead, Emma. I'm not ready yet."

"Oh, okay… I'll wait for you, then!"

"No, that's not necessary. Go on ahead. Go spend some time with Jamie and the rest of your friends before the ceremony starts. I'm sure they'll walk down to the chapel with you."

Emma frowned. She didn't know why she felt so disappointed. It's not like Jack refusing her was anything new.

"'Kay. I'll meet you there then, Big Brother…" she murmured softly.

With one last heavy sigh, she turned away from her brother's bedroom door, and miserably shuffled out the door of their family unit. When Jack decided to close himself off to the world by locking himself inside his bedroom, there was nothing anyone could say or do to make him come out. So long as he didn't miss the coronation ceremony and did his duties as a castle butler and occasionally a shepherd out in the fields well, there wasn't anything Elsa or Anna could do to get him to come out. Jack technically wasn't breaking any servant protocol by being closed off from everyone, after all.

She started heading down the hallways still feeling rather blue and wishing that her only brother would act like the brother he was supposed to be for her rather than a complete stranger, but then she heard someone call out her name.

" _Emma…"_

Emma nearly jumped right out of her skin. What on earth was that?! Who had dared to whisper her name in such a haunting, frightening manner?! Her head whipped around frantically in every direction imaginable to see who it was that had tried to scare her, but her fear only spiked when she saw that she was all alone in the hallway.

"H-Hello…?" she called out rather nervously. "Who's… Who's there…?"

There was a brief pause, and then—

" _It's us…"_

" _The ghosts of the castle…"_

" _We're here to claim your soul…!"_

Emma was shivering at this point. Ghosts?! There were ghosts in the royal palace?! She never knew that! Oh, god! Her legs were shaking with terror. She didn't want her soul to be taken away.

"D-Don't take my soul, Ghosts! I like my soul!"

" _Well… promise to give us all your chocolate for a month and we'll leave it be…!"_

Emma blinked. The ghosts wanted her chocolate desserts at dinner for a whole month? But why? What would possess ghosts to want—

"Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! I want chocolate!"

"Sophie! Shush!"

Emma's wave of terror instantly ebbed away. Instead, anger and annoyance filled her veins.

"Jamie Bennett, you are such a jerk! How dare you scare me like that! Come out here so I can rip you to pieces!"

Within seconds, there was a great deal of giggling, that all but muffled a rather irritated sigh, from one of the hallway walls off to Emma's right.

"Darn it, Sophie! You spoiled it for us! We all almost scored a month's worth of extra chocolate after dinner every night!"

Emma scowled as she planted her hands firmly on her tiny hips and began furiously tapping her foot as she glared at one particular spot on the castle wall.

"Okay, everyone! Joke's over! Come out here and stop teasing me!" she demanded.

"Fine, fine! We're coming, Emma! Keep your hair on…" grumbled the voice of her very best friend.

And then, just like magic, a section of the wall suddenly swung open as if there was a door there, and out popped the faces of all of Emma's fellow servant friends. The twins Caleb and Claude, Pippa, Monty, Cupcake, and then her best friend Jamie Bennett with his three-year-old little sister Sophie. They were all giggling and laughing in amusement when they saw Emma's furious expression firsthand.

"Aww, what's the matter, Emma? Are you still scared?" Jamie teased.

Emma huffed and stamped one of her little feet. "Jamie Bennett! That was so _not_ funny! And I most certainly was _not_ scared!" she vehemently denied.

"Oh, come on now, Emma! You should have seen your face!" Jamie disagreed. "You really thought that we all were ghosts! It was hilarious!"

"Ghosts! Ghosts! Ghosts!" his toddler sister echoed in between her giggling fit.

Emma's scowl only grew. "Ooh…! You are so immature! All of you! Using the castle secret passageways to scare me?! You're all so… so… so mean!"

Pippa caught sight of how Emma's lower lip was beginning to tremble, and quickly spoke up before Jamie or one of the other immature boys could make the situation worse. "We're sorry, Emma! We didn't mean to make you so upset!"

Monty adjusted his red glasses and hurriedly nodded. "Yeah, yeah! Pippa's right! We were just having a bit of last minute fun!"

"And besides, it's the only type of fun we can get into with the castle being permanently opened from now on!" exclaimed Cupcake.

"With the gates being opened—"

"—we'll all have to work harder in our new duties around here in the castle."

The twins Caleb and Claude pouted at their own words, looking rather down and sad at the prospect of not having enough time to play anymore with the castle gates opened again after being locked since before a few of them were even born.

There was a brief pause as they all considered what the twins had said. As much as they all didn't like it, with the obvious exception of Sophie, their time for acting like children was slowly coming to an end. They were the children of castle servants, and at the end of the day, with a new queen back on the throne to overturn the previous king and queen's mysterious decision to keep the gates closed, more people would be visiting the castle on a daily basis. That meant that more servants would be needed around the castle to help with the guests. While the soon-to-be queen had every intention of naturally hiring more employees from the village, it also made sense to have the children in the castle get a jump start in performing their duties.

When today was over, Emma, Jamie, Pippa, Cupcake, Caleb and Claude, and Monty would barely have time to play anymore as their training to be good child servants would triple exponentially.

No more time for being a kid again for any of them.

No more fun.

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed all these unspoken thoughts, but then Emma forced a smile on her face.

"We can't be thinking that way! Sure, things are going to be different for all of us from now on, but it'll be a good different! Just take a look over there! The windows are open! And so's that door! Who knew that they even did that anymore!"

She pointed her little finger towards some adults on the other end of the hall, and Jamie and the others all turned. Sure enough, a number of the castle servants were happily removing the locks from the castle windows and doors as they gladly let them open up for the first time in the past decade, allowing the warm and bright sunshine to stream inside the castle.

Sure enough, Emma's words did the trick, and they all began smiling as they watched the adults make the hallway look bright and welcoming for the incoming visitors.

Jamie's grin in particular grew even bigger when he noticed what many of the employees were carrying in their hands as they headed towards the grand staircase. "Yeah! Check out what those guys are carrying! Who knew the castle had a thousand salad plates?! Did you guys know?!"

The others in the small group all laughed.

"No!"

"Nope!"

"Uh-uh!"

"Not until now!"

"Did you say a _thousand_ salad plates?!"

"Plates! Plates! Plates!"

They all couldn't help but stop and chuckle a bit at little Sophie's enthusiasm, but then the conversation resumed.

"I honestly can't believe that this day has finally come! I mean, for years we've roamed these empty halls and explored the secret passages!" Jamie exclaimed.

Emma giggled. "I know! It's amazing, isn't it? I don't know what made King Agnar and Queen Idun come up with the ridiculous idea to close off the castle in the first place! I mean, why even have a ballroom with no balls to throw?"

"Well, well, well! It sounds like you all are happy that we're finally opening up the gates!"

The kids all jumped in place as they spun around. Standing directly behind them were the beautiful and smiling faces of Elsa and Anna, now dressed for her older sister's coronation in a lovely dark green, short-sleeved dress with a black sweetheart bodice and rosemaling embroidery just like Elsa's. Her strawberry-blonde hair with the one silvery blonde streak had been pulled back into an elegant bun, though a small section of it had been cleverly braided near her hairline to act like a self-headband, and a green comb-shaped barrette had been put in along with a few green satin ribbons to tie back the bun. She looked so pretty, but the finishing touch to the whole ensemble had to be the black satin-laced necklace with the bronze pendant around her neck, upon which was the Arendelle's royal family symbol of the crocus flower. She was dressed formally for her sister's big day, but still looked just like the younger, fifteen-year-old girl she still was. She looked as bubbly as ever, and she and Elsa were gazing down at all the small children with raised eyebrows and amused smiles on their faces.

After getting over their initial astonishment of the two remaining members of the Arendelle royalty sneaking up on them, the kids' matching looks of surprise immediately transformed into cheerful smiles, and they all quickly hurried forward to wrap their small arms around Elsa and Anna in tight, friendly hugs.

"Princess Elsa! Princess Anna! Hi!" Emma happily squealed, hugging Elsa with all her might as she buried her face into the new queen's regal blue gown.

Elsa and Anna both wholeheartedly smiled. While it was true that Emma and the others were technically breaking the proper manner of servant etiquette that the older generations of castle employees had been trying to instill in all of them recently, the two sisters honestly didn't care in the slightest. It was nice for them to see that the children simply adored the two of them.

"Hello everyone. You all look very nice for today's festivities," Anna complimented the children.

"Thanks, Princess Anna!" said Jamie with an excited whoop. "We're looking forward to seeing you become queen today, Princess Elsa!"

Elsa giggled a bit behind one of her gloved hands. "I'm glad to hear that you're all excited, but do remember that you must begin addressing me as Queen Elsa after the ceremony in a bit. After today, I won't be a princess anymore."

"Of course, your highness— Oh, wait… Do I call you 'your majesty' yet, or do I still address you as 'your highness?'" asked Monty, his glasses a bit askew as he tilted his head to the side with obvious confusion.

Anna laughed as she knelt downwards slightly to adjust his off-center eye lenses. "You can address Elsa as 'your highness' for now, Monty. She'll only be 'your majesty' after the official coronation," she explained.

"Oh, okay!"

"Princess Elsa! Princess Anna! Is it true that the gates are going to stay open forever and ever after today?" little Emma chimed, her big brown eyes full of excitement as she gazed up hopefully at both of them. "You're not going to lock them up again like you did after the memorial service a few years ago, right? You're going to keep them open for good this time?"

Elsa nodded to her question as a great big smile spread across her face. "Of course we are, Emma. Anna and I never liked having the gates closed. We fully intend to keep them open for good from now on."

"It might take some adjusting to having actual real live people in the palace again after having the place closed off for so long, but we are so ready for this change!" Anna added.

All the kids cheered at this happy news.

"Yay!"

"Thank you, Princess Elsa, Princess Anna!"

"Thank you so much!"

"We can go out to play in the village from now on!"

"The gates are staying open this time!"

"Open! Open! Open!"

Emma was beaming from ear to ear as she hugged both of the princesses tightly again. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm so happy!" she squealed with joy. "For the first time in forever, there'll be music and light and magic and… and… and fun! It's going to be so much fun here in the castle from now on!"

Both Elsa and Anna smiled as they patted the little girl on the head. "There's no need to thank us. We've been planning to do this for years. Ever since the gates were originally closed, in fact!"

"Elsa's right! From now on, you kids won't be alone anymore with only yourselves to befriend. You will all be allowed to go down to the village whenever you want to play with the children down there! And who knows! Maybe when guests start coming to the castle on a regular basis, they'll bring along their children as well! You'll all have lots of new friends very soon!"

"Oh, boy! We can't wait to meet all of them!" Jamie said eagerly.

As Emma and the others all nodded eagerly in agreement, Elsa suddenly realized that Jack was nowhere to be seen, and she couldn't help but become a bit worried. She knew that Jack tended to stay locked up in his room whenever he didn't have any of his servant duties either inside or outside the castle to attend to, but today was very important. He had a significant role during her coronation today alongside Emma. She not only didn't want her old friend to be late for the event, but she still had something that she needed to give him before the coronation began. Something so small, she had it clenched up in one of her gloved hands. It was of the utmost importance that she gave it to him and inform him about the decision she had made before she was officially crowned as the new queen.

"Oh, Emma? Is Jack still back in his bedroom?"

Immediately, the happy expression on Emma's face morphed into a sad frown.

"Yeah," she murmured, glancing down rather gloomily at her feet as she scuffed the carpeting with her shiny black shoes. "I asked him if he wanted to walk down to the chapel with me, but he wouldn't. Said he wasn't ready yet…"

"Ah, I see. I suppose that is to be expected with him. Anna? Why don't you take Emma and the rest of the children and go on ahead? I'll meet you at the chapel."

"Are you sure, Elsa? I can go and give that thing to Jack. You're more important than me, after all! The new queen of Arendelle can't show up late for her own coronation!"

"Don't worry. I won't be long, and it doesn't matter anyway! If Jack doesn't show up, the coronation will still be put on hold because he's the one carrying the royal orb and scepter! He's not staying locked in there today of all days! I'll drag that stubborn boy out of his bedroom and down the grand staircase by the ear if I must!"

Anna cracked up laughing. "Oh, wow! I can so totally see you doing that! If that happens, call me back in from the chapel! That's a sight I'd do anything to see!"

"Call me back in too, Princess Elsa! I'd love to see Big Brother being dragged by you down the stairs!" Emma giggled.

Elsa suppressed a hearty laugh. "Duly noted! Anyways, I'll see you all down in the chapel in few minutes!"

"Okay! See you down there, Elsa!"

"'Kay!"

"Good luck, your highness – or your majesty – or… or whatever it is!"

"Bye!"

Elsa laughed one last time, and then with one final nod and curtsy towards her younger sister and the other excited children, she turned around and made her way down the hall to the Overland siblings' apartment.

* * *

Ice. It haunted him.

All night long, Jackson Overland had been terrified of his ice. He had been dealing with utterly horrifying nightmares of all the things that could go wrong today during the coronation as he tossed and turned in his small bed, and every time he started feeling his fear consume him, his ice would shoot out from both his hands and feet and coat everything in his room in thick amounts of ice, snow, and frost. The very sight of the unnatural wintery phenomenon would send him into a state of panic when he woke up from the nightmares, and it would take ages for him to force himself to become emotionless and numb to feelings once again to stop more ice and snow from appearing.

To say that Jack was scared about today would be the understatement of the century.

He might not be the one who was being crowned the new monarch of the realm, but he had more of a reason to be terrified of what might happen today than Elsa did.

After all, Elsa wasn't the one who was born with such blasted ice and snow powers that could kill – if not seriously harm – everyone who was coming to commemorate her as the new ruling queen of Arendelle.

His fear from both his nightmares and just plain worry of what could happen today left the poor boy exhausted when it was finally time for him to get up and get ready for the day. There were dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, but Jack was hoping that it might go unnoticed. Other than when he had to carry the royal orb and scepter down the aisle during the ceremony, he had every intention of remaining as invisible as possible today. He was simply a servant in the castle, so he wouldn't be in the spotlight at all. So long as he stuck close to the sidelines at the party today, barely anyone would pay him any attention, and he would be able to keep his powers a secret.

A sigh escaped his lips as he ran a comb through his dark brown hair, forcing it to be slicked back and look smooth and proper rather than messy and wild like it naturally was. Why the hell did Elsa have to assign him the job of carrying the orb and scepter down the aisle in the church and making him a waiter at the party tonight after the coronation? She knew he worked as a shepherd out in the fields. There were so many guests that chose to bring horses for whatever strange reasons they had. He could have been safely hidden away out there all through today and he wouldn't be nearly as stressed out as he was right now. Why, oh why was the universe seemingly against him…?

He shook his head at the thought. It didn't matter anyway. After today, nothing here in the castle would be his problem anymore. He had a plan. A well thought out plan to ensure that his powers would remain secret despite Elsa and Anna's plan to open up the castle to the general public again following Elsa's rise from being a crown princess to a ruling queen. It was completely fool proof and guaranteed to work. He had been planning it for the past three years, ever since his mother and the late king and queen had died at sea.

Jack felt his hands growing progressively colder underneath his special gloves as he recalled his plan, and he immediately forced those thoughts out of his head. Thoughts about his plan were making him both sad and anxious. If he was going to get through being outside his room all day today while attending to his duties during Elsa's coronation, he couldn't afford to get the slightest bit emotional. He had to be numb. A blank slate. Feel nothing at all.

A wave of relief seeped through Jack as he felt his hands warm back up inside his gloves, and with that minor problem out of the way, he turned to look at himself in his small bedroom mirror. He looked every bit the proper castle servant he was supposed to be.

His green servant uniform jacket had its black buttons fastened shut accordingly over his white button down shirt underneath, and his white ruffled neckerchief was tied securely around his neck.

His black pants had been ironed the night before and were completely stain-free.

His usual black leather boots were neatly laced up and he had polished the tops of them the night before so that they would shine.

His hair had been combed back so that it laid smoothly on his head.

And most importantly, his white gloves were on his hands.

He looked as though he could play the role of a proper and polite castle servant just like how Kirsten, King Agnar, and Queen Idun had always instructed him to be without any troubles whatsoever, even if he really didn't feel that way inside.

Normally, Jack would say that he was all set to leave his bedroom and begin his duties for the day, but not today.

Today, before he dared to so much as step foot out of this sacred sanctuary, he had to practice touching things without wearing his gloves for the first time in ten years.

Because when he carried the royal orb and scepter on a pillow down the aisle in the church for Elsa's coronation, he had to carry them without his gloves safely on his hands.

It was servant protocol.

Personally, Jack thought that even if he wasn't cursed with winter magic, the rule was stupid that servants couldn't wear gloves while walking down the aisle with the crown, the orb, and scepter, but he didn't have a choice. Elsa had handpicked him and Emma to carry out the two most important jobs during the coronation. She wanted him and his sister to be a part of the celebration. While Jack thought it was sweet that his old childhood friend, who he still secretly liked after all these years, had been kind enough to include Emma in the ceremony, his emotions were completely haywire from learning that she had been even nicer than he thought by adding him into the event too, even though he had kept her and everyone else in his life at arm's length to keep them safe. It sucked for him because he was being forced to take his gloves off, but it wasn't like he could refuse the task.

So long as he practiced carrying the pillow with the orb and scepter before he left his bedroom, he just might be okay.

The walk down the aisle in the chapel wouldn't even take a full minute.

He could do it.

He just had to practice before he left his bedroom.

 _Don't let them in._

Jack, very slowly, selected a candlestick off his dressing table along with a small toy ball that he had long ago stolen from Emma's toy chest in her room just to have something of his little sister's to hold onto, and then set them both down on one of the pillows on his bed.

 _Don't let them see._

Jack gulped, and then, with great apprehension, he slowly began to tug off one white glove.

 _Be the good boy you always have to be._

He began shaking madly as he pulled off the other.

 _Conceal, don't feel._

For the longest time, Jack didn't dare to move. He was far too terrified of what may happen. And then, with trembling fingers, he reached forward to carefully pick up the pillow with the substituted royal scepter and orb, and held it out regally in front of him like he was supposed to when he carried the real gold scepter and orb through the church.

 _Put on a show._

Jack slowly walked across the expanse of his bedroom while carrying the pillow with his bare hands. For the first few seconds, nothing happened. But then, just as the lonely teenager had feared, ice and frost rapidly spread across the soft and fluffy expanse of the entire pillow and glossed over the candlestick and tiny ball.

A look of terror spread across the Overland boy's face, and he quickly threw all the ice-covered items on top of his bed before grasping at the sides of his head in distress and frustration.

"God dammit! I make one wrong move, and everyone will know!" he groaned.

His momentary panic made some more ice shoot right out of his hands and hit the ceiling. His dark brown eyes widened in alarm when he saw the ice and frost patterns spread across the ceiling of the small room, but then he lunged for his gloves and scrambled to slip them back on his hands.

"Don't feel! Don't feel!" He told himself frantically. "Get a grip on yourself! It's only for today! You can do this! It's _only_ for today!"

It took a few minutes, but finally, he managed to force himself to become numb once again. He had to feel nothing. Feel nothing. It was the only way to get through today.

When he at last felt as prepared as he would ever be for the day he had been dreading since that fateful night when he had his accident with his magic, he took a deep breath for courage, and then slowly left the safe confines of his bedroom before heading for the door that led the way out of his and Emma's apartment and into the castle hallway.

He froze for a moment as his hand hovered over the doorknob. He was a nervous wreck. So many things could go wrong at the coronation. What if the moment he touched the pillow with the orb and scepter, all three objects immediately became incased in great blocks of ice? What if, while he was walking down the aisle of the church, his powers spiked again and very noticeable frost appeared underneath his fingers and soaked into the pillow for all to see? What if he simply tripped while walking with the pillow, scepter, and orb and when he tried to catch himself when he landed on the floor, he accidentally froze the floor of the church to resemble that of an ice rink?

So many different, but equally horrible scenarios were rushing through Jack's mind at such high-flying speeds, it was enough to make his head spin.

The anxiety was so bad, Jack had to stop again to clear his head of all the negativity to stop himself from creating tons of ice through his gloves by sheer accident. When he felt comfortable enough to keep going, he stared at the wood of the door in front of him, and then nodded to himself.

"It's agony to wait, I guess… Just put on a show… Conceal it, but don't feel it… And above all, don't let _anyone_ know!"

And with those final thoughts to himself out loud, Jack forced himself to open the door before he could convince himself to do otherwise.

But then he came face-to-face with the surprised face of Elsa, her hand outstretched and preparing to knock politely on the door.

Her shock with the door suddenly opening was nothing compared to Jack's astonishment. He gasped rather loudly as he leapt nearly a full foot backwards, trying to keep his body as far away from hers as possible to avoid hurting her by mistake.

"Y-Your highness! I… I wasn't expecting you!" he gulped, hoping beyond hope itself that Elsa wouldn't try to reach out and touch him to check and see if he was okay.

Elsa blinked to regain her composure, and then smiled kindly back at the dark-haired teen boy. "Good morning, Jack. Anna and I just ran into Emma down the hall with the other children and we saw that you weren't with them."

Jack didn't reply right away, as he was still mentally trying to calm down his heart, which was thumping madly inside his ribcage from his shock of seeing Elsa so soon and just when he opened his apartment door. As soon as he found his courage, he forced his face to flow easily back into his trained, solemn expression that depicted no emotion whatsoever, and then he spoke.

"My apologies, Princess Elsa – or rather, _Queen Elsa_ in the next few hours. I wasn't ready yet. I was just heading out to go and meet Emma in the chapel. I am sorry if I detained you in going down there yourself."

Elsa frowned as Jack carefully maneuvered his way around her in the doorframe so he could start walking down the hall in the direction of the grand staircase. She honestly wished she knew what had possessed him to change into this stiff and proper servant all those years ago, back when they were but small children. Deep down, she actually regretted wishing that he would learn to become a proper and diligent servant back then. She thought him acting like that would be a good thing, but in truth, it was sad that Jack never seemed to open up to anyone. Not even her, Anna, or Emma.

Well, not today! Today was her coronation day, and she had something special to bestow upon him before they both entered that chapel. She wanted him to know just how important his friendship to her was before she was officially made queen. But this wasn't just a thank you to him for being a good friend or even a good worker here in the castle. This was also the only thing she could think of that would make Jack be able to smile again while in public.

"Wait – Jack? Just a moment please," she called out kindly, heading down the hall directly after him and she fingered the small object she was still carrying in her hand as an excited smile spread across her face. She couldn't wait to see the pleased and thankful look on his face when she gave this to him.

Jack reluctantly paused and turned around to face Elsa as she approached him. Why was she doing this to him? What did she want? Couldn't she see that he needed to get away from her as fast as he could? Thanks to the feelings he had developed towards Elsa back when he was fourteen, it was getting as hard for him to be around Elsa as it was for him to be around Emma. He would never admit to anyone should they ask him about it, but Jack knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he really did love the new queen. But because of his powers and the station of life he had been born into, he could never act upon them. His feelings toward Elsa were not only dangerous for her, but they were also quite silly. Queens and princesses only married for love if they happened to be lucky enough to fall in love with another royal or high born noble in the upper-class life. They didn't marry servants. Not butlers, and especially not stable hands.

"Yes, your highness?" he asked in a calm, neutral voice as Elsa came to a halt right in front of him. His tone betrayed nothing as to what he was really thinking and feeling inside.

Elsa ignored his politeness. "First of all, Jack, you and I have known each other our entire lives. You don't always have to speak so formally to me when we're not around other people. You can just address me as Elsa so long as we're not around other nobles or royalty. Secondly, I have already told the guards to open up the gates."

Jack managed a stiff nod. To go against servant protocol by simply addressing Elsa by her name whenever they weren't around other high class nobles was already bad enough for his anxiety over his emotions as he could feel his fingers growing relatively colder inside his gloves, but the news that the castle gates were already open to the general public and royal visitors from everywhere in Northern Europe? It took every ounce of willpower that Jack had to not allow himself to feel terrified once again over what might happen today during the ceremony.

"Oh, I see… I take it that you're upset with me because I am running a little late for the coronation? If so, I apologize once again, Princ— I… I mean… Elsa."

"Oh, no! No, you misunderstand me, Jack! I honestly don't mind that you were delayed. It's completely fine. In fact, it works well for me because I need to speak with you anyway before I become queen. I have something that I need to give you."

Instantly, Jack's rigidness in his posture melted away as a confused expression spread across his face. "You want to give me something?" he repeated.

Elsa nodded brightly as she uncurled one of her gloved hands to reveal what she had been hiding in her fist. The moment Jack saw it, his blood ran cold, and he had to force his face to not show the horror and guilt he suddenly felt.

"Elsa…"

"The Arendelle royal family's crocus pin of high servitude," she happily exclaimed, reaching forward before he could try to stop her and pinning the small accessory to the white neckerchief tied around his throat. "Given out only to servants in the castle who are of the highest rank. Come tomorrow, you will be the head butler here in the palace!"

For the longest time, Jack didn't speak. He just stared down at his neck where the golden pin of the royal family's sigil of the crocus flower shined in the light. Elsa assumed that he was simply at a loss for words to express his gratitude over his newfound promotion, but in reality, Jack was panicking.

This hadn't been part of his plan to keep his ice and snow magic a secret.

He was flattered by what Elsa had done for him, but he couldn't accept this gift or new job.

"Elsa… I—"

"There's no need to thank me, Jack! You've earned this! Anna and I both agree that you not only deserve this promotion, but you need it, too! For Emma!"

"But—"

"We know that things haven't been easy for the two of you ever since your mother died. We're well aware of the fact that you've had to pick more than your necessary share of shifts here in the palace just to support Emma all on your own! You're still our friend, Jack! We know you need the pay raise, and like I said, you've earned this! You're one of the most diligent employees here in the castle, especially since you double as both a butler _and_ a stable hand! You've worked hard here all your life. Anna and I… well… we both think that this is not only our gift to you, but something that we should have done a long time ago since you deserve it!"

Jack didn't reply right away after hearing this. He just kept staring at the gold pin on his neckerchief with an unreadable expression on his face. Listening to Elsa's reasoning for naming him the new head butler here in the castle, he could see hers and Anna's point of view for bestowing this ranking to him, and he was especially grateful to the two of them for thinking about how this would help him in taking care of Emma from now on.

But still, he couldn't change his plan.

Not with Elsa's decision to keep the gates open permanently from now on.

He had to politely refuse her.

With a small, barely noticeable gulp, Jack willed himself to make eye-contact with Elsa.

"Elsa, I—"

He was cut off by the sound of bells tolling from somewhere outside.

"The church bells!" Elsa gasped, quickly peering out a window nearby to catch a glimpse of all the visitors that had entered the castle courtyard from the open castle gates and were assembling inside the royal chapel. "The coronation! Jack, we have to go! We can't be late!"

"But Elsa—!"

"You can thank me later, Jack! We have to hurry! It would be the story of the century should the new queen and the servant carrying the royal scepter and orb run late for the ceremony! We'll talk later!"

And before Jack could say anything else, Elsa started walking as fast and as regally as possible towards the grand staircase without having to run. It wouldn't be proper for a queen to run at top speed through the hallways even if she was running late for her own coronation ceremony.

Seeing as he couldn't get a word in edgewise at this time, Jack sighed and quickly hurried along after her. It broke his heart to accept this royal pin, but at the same time, he couldn't help but think that the chapel steeple bells cutting him off before he could reveal to Elsa why he couldn't become the head butler here in the castle was for the best. It was her coronation day, after all. Elsa had been waiting for this day all her life. He shouldn't ruin it for her.

After all, not even Emma knew that ever since his mother died, he had been taking on more and more work shifts here in the castle to save up enough money to take Emma and leave after Elsa was made queen.

While everyone else thought of today as the mark of a new beginning here in the royal palace, to Jack, today marked the end of this chapter of his and Emma's lives here in the castle.

Because first thing tomorrow morning, he was officially turning in his green servant uniform and resignation papers.


	4. The Coronation Party

**Finally, it's done...**

 **I know that this chapter took me two weeks to write as opposed to just one, but I did warn you all before that I can't always promise weekly updates anymore. College and family life are distracting. I wish I could stay in front of my computer forever without having anyone interrupt me... But anyway, now we finally get to see Elsa crowned as the new queen of Arendelle in this chapter. It was a lot of fun writing the coronation scene itself and introducing the members of the Big Five to each other, but everything else in this chapter took me ages to write. This chapter is necessary for plot development and fleshing out some of the supporting characters in this story, but that doesn't stop it from dragging. At least in the next chapter, I will finally be able to start writing all my clever ideas for this AU story. I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter! ;D**

 **I'm kind of in a rush at the moment as I'm tired and want to go to bed as soon as I finish posting this, so I'm going to make this next part very brief. Again, this chapter is unbetaed at this time. Silken Danser will check in over very soon, and an updated version of it will be posted very soon. Please be patient until then.**

 **And as usual, please let me thank the people who were nice enough to review the last chapter:**

 **\- Guest (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- Fangirl309**

 **\- XYZArtemis**

 **Thank you for leaving me such nice reviews! Reading your comments always makes my day! So thank you! Thank you! I hope you will all review again for this chapter!**

 **Please note: I do not own the movies _Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled,_ or _How to Train Your Dragon._ _Frozen, Brave,_ and _Tangled_ belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and _Rise of the Guardians_ and _How To Train Your Dragon_ both belong to Dreamworks Animation. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **I highly encourage all you readers to be kind enough to leave a wonderful review when you are done reading. Reviews inspire me to keep writing, so if you want to read another chapter, please leave me a little message telling me how much you love my story and wish to see it continue! :D**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 2/27/17, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: The Coronation Party**

Pitch Black smirked to himself as he stood in the shadows of the royal chapel's bell, chuckling a bit while he watched the noble visitors enter the holy building. He was beyond pleased. Today was the day he had spent the last ten years waiting for. Ten years he had been watching from the shadows as he haunted young Jackson Overland's worst nightmares, driving the poor boy to become all but terrified as he saw visions of himself harming and killing those that he kept dear to his heart with his dreaded ice magic. It had been all too easy to turn the once happy little boy who could smile, laugh, and make a game out of everything he came across into a psychological mess who spent his every waking moment living in absolute terror of what he could end up doing by pure accident thanks to his powers.

And now, it was time to reap the rewards of all his hard work.

There was no doubt whatsoever in Pitch's mind that today would finally be the day that Jack would snap.

For the first time in years, the boy was going to be exposed to hundreds more people than he had dealt with while working as a butler and shepherd here in the castle. The new queen was not only forcing Jack to carry a pillow with the royal orb and scepter without wearing his gloves, but also planned to make him act as a waiter at the coronation ball following the ceremony. That was a recipe for disaster if he ever heard one. If this teen boy could get through today without causing a scene, Pitch would be astounded. Magic of the caliber that Jackson Overland possessed was not meant to be restricted the way the boy's stupid parents and the previous idiotic monarchs had taught him to do. It was meant to be used freely and for the user to not be afraid of it.

Still, Pitch wasn't condemning those foolish adults for teaching Jack to be afraid of his magic.

Thanks to their ill-advised guidance, he, Pitch Black, the Nightmare King, was just about ready to strike back against the blasted Guardians and the rest of humanity.

His army of over a thousand beautiful black sand Nightmares were stronger than ever and were beyond eager to start obeying his orders in striking fear in the dreams of any adult or child they should come across. But more importantly, they were all hungry to join their master in the long-awaited battle between them and the do-gooder Guardians. Pitch could have easily started the war between himself and his arch rivals anytime in the past three years as he had more than enough Nightmares thanks to collecting so much fear from the ice-wielding boy, but Pitch was waiting for the perfect moment to finally strike.

And he believed that that day was today.

Pitch truly thought that something could happen today that would cause Jack to accidentally reveal his magic to the world and spark a mass panic among all the citizens in Arendelle, along with all the nobles visiting from other countries, but even in the very remote chance that that did not happen and the boy managed to hold it together, Pitch was through with waiting.

If Jack invoked fear in the people here in Arendelle with his control over ice and snow, it would be great news for him because the boy would only be adding extra fuel to the fire with all the fear he would siphon off from all the terrified humans, but that extra fear wouldn't exactly be necessary for him to finally put his plan of destroying the Guardians into action.

Pitch's thoughts were interrupted when he caught sight of the boy heading down the few short steps that led to the castle's main entrance, hurrying after the new queen, who was somewhat late for her own coronation.

Pitch's smirk only grew as he vanished completely into the shadows.

Even without trying in the slightest to instill fear in Jack, Pitch knew that the time for the boy to be able to keep safely suppressing his powers was at last at an end.

His plan to enact fear on the human race and to get revenge against the Guardians would commence at midnight, with or without the extra fear he wanted Jack to instill in people.

All the world would know fear once again, the likes of which hadn't been seen since he reigned as the world-wide ruler of all terror back in the Dark Ages!

Ah, yes. It would all begin very soon…

* * *

Jack kept his expression carefully blank and devoid of emotion as he followed Elsa out of the castle and through the courtyard toward the royal chapel. It was finally time. In a few minutes, he would know just how well he was at suppressing all feelings in order to block out his powers. If he managed to get through the entire walk through the chapel while holding onto the pillow with the orb and scepter without any ice or snow appearing, his secret was still safe, but should anyone else in the church catch sight of so much as a single snowflake, all his hard work in hiding his powers from everyone for the past ten years would go right down the drain.

He couldn't afford to screw this up.

Elsa happened to glance over her shoulder to see how Jack was faring, and upon catching sight of the rigidness in his expression, her face broke out into a caring smile. "Are you nervous?" she inquired.

Jack nearly tripped over his feet. He hadn't been expecting her to talk to him. At least not right now when she should be nervous about taking her vows as the next queen of the country.

"H-Huh?" he gasped.

"Are you nervous?" Elsa repeated. "You seem tense… Tenser than me, even! And it's my coronation day! Are you afraid you'll trip and drop the orb and scepter? You'll do fine, Jack!"

Jack forced himself to look rather sheepish as he shrugged. "I guess so… But you're right, Prin— I mean, _just_ Elsa. I'll be okay though, don't worry."

"Good to hear it! I'll meet you inside, okay? I have to stand by Anna and the bishop in front of the altar."

"All right. Good luck, your highness. Today you make your parents proud."

Elsa's face all but glowed. "Thank you very much for saying that, Jack. I know… I know you must still feel hurt about your father leaving you all, but I believe that your mother is proud of you today, too. You are not just a servant to me and Anna, Jack. You're our dear friend, even though you're always so stoic all the time. And come tomorrow, all our lives are going to take a turn for the better! You and Emma will _always_ have a home here in this castle."

Jack felt his stomach churn at those last few sentences. As much as he wanted to stay and live here in this castle and simply be Elsa's friend, even if he couldn't tell her how he really felt toward her, it was impossible. He was quitting tomorrow. End of story. He had already asked Kai the last time he went into the village to discretely ask around town to see if there was anybody way out in the forest that had a job and two rooms available for a teen boy of working age and a child who could start work in a few years. To Jack's immense relief, the fellow servant had found such a person. There were ice harvesters that lived out in the middle of nowhere in the mountains that were coming to the village next week to make a delivery, and they were apparently always looking for new employees. Convincing them to hire him when he had no choice but to bring Emma along with him would be the tough part, but he was sure that if he waved enough of the gold he had been saving up for the past few years in front of their noses, they would easily be persuaded to take him on even with Emma tagging along for the ride.

And best of all, they all worked with ice. If his powers should flare up while he did his job, no one would notice a thing because they were already surrounded by ice and snow.

He had a good plan.

He just had to deal with concealing his true feelings for one more day.

He could turn in his resignation notice and the crocus pin of servitude to Elsa first thing tomorrow morning and then take Emma along with their sparse belongings and the few things that remained of their mother's personal items to the village inn in town and simply hide out there until next week.

He would be okay.

He just had to make it through one more day.

"Thank you for your kind words," he said finally.

Elsa smiled happily. "You are very welcome, Jack. Don't drop the orb and scepter!" she jested with a laugh. And without further ado, she curtsied politely to the eldest Overland, and then entered the chapel right through the main entrance.

Jack took a deep breath for courage, and then made his way around the side of the building to enter the church through the side door that was the servants' entrance. Just as he was about to head on inside though, the wind suddenly whistled through the still air.

 _Jack…_

Jack's hand hovered over the doorknob as a genuine smile spread across his face. The only friend that he had in the world had come to give him a much-needed confidence boost.

"Hey, Wind. Checking in on me?" he muttered under his breath. It didn't matter that everyone of importance was already inside. On the offshoot chance that someone happened to wander outside, he didn't want them to see him talking to the air and calling him insane in the head. But then again, maybe he was. No other normal person on earth had been born with unexplainable powers over ice and snow and found solace from his solitude from the wind, the one thing on earth that he couldn't hurt with his cursed magic. "Do you want to know if I'm good to go for today? I'm hoping that I am, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not…"

 _Jack… Run…_

Jack blinked. That had been extremely random.

"Huh?"

 _Jack… You're in danger… You have to leave… Before you get hurt…_

Jack had to absorb what the wind had told him for a full five seconds before he finally shook his head in disbelief.

"I think you've got that wrong, Wind. I'm not in danger from anyone. _I'm_ a danger to _everyone._ I'm already planning to leave tomorrow, so don't worry. I've got it under control."

 _You don't understand… You must leave now!_

Jack sighed. He wished he understood why the wind was always trying to persuade him to run as far away from Arendelle as he could. He enjoyed talking to the nonliving breeze, but he often got annoyed with how it continuously told him that he was in danger.

"I can't leave yet! I have to stay at least one more day! I… I _want_ to see Elsa become the new queen! I owe it to her and Anna to stay until tomorrow! I'll be fine!"

Without waiting for the wind to respond, Jack seized hold of the doorknob and hurriedly entered the side entrance of the chapel. He couldn't think about leaving now. He was already anxious enough. He had to get through the ceremony without getting further riled up and potentially causing an accident.

Due to his and Elsa's delay in arriving at the chapel on time, many people were standing up and mingling about around the pews as they waited for the soon-to-be crowned queen and the royal orb and scepter bearer to arrive. However, Jack wasn't interested at all in the guests. His eyes were focused on where his little sister was standing. While waiting for her big brother and the crown princess to show up so the ceremony could officially begin, Emma and the rest of the servant children had wandered away from their designated seats in the back of the church and were instead chatting and laughing with three small redheaded boys that had seats near the altar, where they and the rest of their family could have a perfect view of the coronation as it happened.

Jack gulped. He really didn't want to have to push his way through people and risk them getting hurt by simply touching them, but he had no choice in the matter. He had to call Emma, Jamie and his sister Sophie, the twins Caleb and Claude, Pippa, Monty, and Cupcake back over here where they could watch the ceremony out of sight of the rest of the visiting royals and nobles. And Emma had to come and stand near him at the very back of the church so that when their cue came to bring forth the crown, and the orb scepter down the aisle to where the bishop, Elsa, and Anna would all be waiting for them, they wouldn't accidentally miss it.

Seeing no choice in the matter, Jack curled his gloved hands into tight fists to further ensure that nothing would happen and then began hurrying as quickly, but also as safely as he could through the crowd to make sure that he didn't accidentally touch anyone. It was rather hard considering that everywhere Jack turned there was suddenly another person standing right in his face that he was inches away from accidentally touching with his dangerous hands, but to the teenager's immense relief, nothing happened. He felt himself ease up a bit as he approached his sister and the other kids.

"Hey, what are you guys doing all the way up here?" he asked. "Emma? You're supposed to be standing next to me in the back of the church, and the rest of you should already be in your seats with your parents."

Upon hearing her big brother's voice speak up from somewhere behind her, Emma's face broke out into a great big smile as she whirled around to face him.

"Big Brother! Hi!" she happily chirped. "We know we were supposed to go right to our seats, but we saw kids our age here and we wanted to meet them!"

She gestured proudly to the three boys with the curly red hair that had joined the cluster of servant children. Jack recognized the boys' finely made tartan clothing that indicated the trio were of high ranking Scottish nobility, but he had no idea which of the Scottish clans they came from or what their names were. Still, he respectfully bowed to the three brothers. Though they were younger than him, they were still of a higher rank in life than he, Emma, and the other servant children were.

"A pleasure to meet you," he murmured quietly.

"Hi!"

"Hey!"

"Hello!"

The three boys all grinned cheekily and waved their small hands high over their heads as they waved to him.

"I'm Hamish! I'm the oldest out of the three of us!"

"Hubert! I'm the middle one!"

"And I'm Harris, the youngest!"

"And together—"

"—the three of us—"

"—are the three princes of Dunbroch!"

"We're triplets!" they finished together in perfect unison.

Jack blinked at the introduction, but managed to just nod politely at the three wild boys. Although he tended to avoid Emma and her friends as much as he could whenever he had his servant duties to attend to around the castle, he had seen the twins Caleb and Claude do the same thing to other people from time to time.

"Nice to meet you, your highnesses, but I'm afraid I have to escort my sister and the other children back to their seats," he said as politely as possible.

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris looked rather sad at that prospect while Emma and the rest of her friends looked annoyed.

"Huh? But why, Jackie?" she pouted. "We're having fun chatting with them!"

"Because, Emma, the ceremony is going to start any minute now since Princess Elsa just arrived," he explained. "Your friends all have to go sit with their parents, and you and I have to stand in the back of the church until our cue comes on."

Instantly, Emma's mopey expression brightened considerably.

"Oh! Okay! We'll all talk to you later, Prince Hamish, Prince Hubert, and Prince Harris! Bye!"

"Bye!"

"See-ya!"

"Good bye!"

Emma and her friends waved goodbye to their new friends one last time, and then obediently followed Jack out of the crowd of people towards the back wall where all the servants who had been allowed inside the chapel for the ceremony were standing.

"Good luck up there, Emma!" Jamie said cheerfully and with a rather toothy smile. "We're all rooting for you!"

"Yeah! Do your best!" claimed Pippa.

"Best! Best! Best!" giggled little Sophie.

"You're so lucky, Emma!" said Monty.

"We're all so envious—"

"—of your job today!" laughed Caleb and Claude.

"Make this a coronation to remember!" exclaimed Cupcake.

Emma smiled at all of them in return. "Thanks, everybody! I know I can carry that crown to Princess— Oops! I mean, _Queen_ Elsa and the bishop, no problem! Just watch and see! It'll be a piece of cake!"

While Jamie and the others all laughed and tackled Emma in encouraging and friendly hugs, Jack stood sadly off on the sidelines, not daring to get involved in the hug or to even break it up. He tried to force himself to ignore the ache in his heart as he watched his little sister be hugged and encouraged to do well by Jamie and the rest of her friends, but it was hard. It was stupid of him to feel this way considering that he had to suppress all emotion whatsoever in order to keep his cursed ice and snow powers safely hidden from everyone, but he couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous of Emma right now. He had not dared to so much as touch anyone since he was twelve-years-old, much less hug or be hugged by anyone. He missed what it felt like to be hugged and cheered up by someone he cared about.

He was starved for comfort, but he didn't dare try to alleviate his yearning.

Being near other people at close range was far too dangerous.

Jack was interrupted from his thoughts though when the choir director standing on the second level of the church suddenly began tapping his baton on the edge of his music stand, and the choir overhead slowly started to sing in a soft, holy hymn all in Latin. Immediately, everyone who had been standing and talking to one another in loud voices all over the chapel quickly quieted down as they took their seats. Emma hurriedly broke away from her friends and moved to stand beside her big brother as the rest of them scrambled to stand beside their parents, but Jack barely paid this any attention, as his eyes were focused solely on the bishop in the front of the church as he began to speak to everyone.

The coronation had officially begun.

If someone asked Jack to tell them about the coronation for the new Queen Elsa from beginning to end, it would have been impossible for Jack to respond to them, because all throughout the beginning of the ceremony, as the bishop spoke to the audience and read out a few holy verses from the bible, Jack wasn't even listening. He had zoned out of reality during the first fifteen minutes of the historic event as his only focus was on keeping his ice powers under control, which was proving very difficult since he was feeling so many different emotions at the moment.

Worry about what might happen the second he took off his gloves.

Fear of what he could do if his powers spiraled out of control.

Excitement over the fact that he was lucky enough to be at a coronation at all, considering his station in life.

Happiness for Elsa that today was the day all her dreams would come true.

It was so hard to keep himself in his usual numb and blank state, and he had to bite down extremely hard on his tongue to stop himself from repeating his usual mantra of 'conceal, don't feel' out loud for all to hear.

It wasn't until the doors to the side room near the back of the church opened that Jack tuned back in to what was going on, as he and just about every other head in the chapel quickly turned to look around. There stood Elsa, looking ever so regal and elegant in her teal blue gown and majestic purple mantle trailing after her on the floor as she appeared at the end of the aisle, smiling happily at all the foreign dignitaries that had come to witness her be crowned as queen. She was followed closely behind by Anna, who seemed to be a great, radiant ball of energy compared to her queenly elder sister, and she smiled wholeheartedly as she followed Elsa at a respectable pace down the aisle.

Everyone who saw the two sisters couldn't help but smile in delight. Elsa and Anna were not only visions of loveliness today, as dressed up as they were in their coronation gowns, but they both appeared to be kind and friendly young girls just judging by their matching, glowing smiles. Although no one there knew either of them yet due to how the Arendelle castle had been locked up tight for the past decade, if Elsa and Anna were as warm and caring as they appeared to be right now, then this country was definitely in good hands.

Elsa would make a wonderful queen, and with her charming young sister Anna as her trusted right hand, there would be nothing to fear for the future of the kingdom of Arendelle.

When Elsa and Anna finally reached the bishop in front of the altar, there was a momentary delay in the ceremony when Anna unexpectedly turned and hugged her elder sister with all her might as tears glistened in her eyes. Elsa was obviously surprised, judging by the expression on her face, but then a smile spread across her lips as she hugged Anna back just as tight. Many in attendance couldn't help but chuckle a bit when they saw the two sisters hug. There was no doubt whatsoever in any of the visitors' minds that the new queen and the young princess loved each other with all their hearts. They were, after all, the only immediate family that they had left – not including the Coronan royals of course who they hadn't seen face to face since they were both very small children.

Speaking of the Coronan royal family, Rapunzel was watching with stars in her eyes as her two cousins reluctantly parted from their hug and then focused in on the bishop as he began reciting the vows that Elsa would have to swear to abide by during her reign as the new queen. She never imagined that her cousins Elsa and Anna would end up being so beautiful.

"The one in the blue is Elsa, right, Mother, Father?" she quietly whispered. "And the one in the green is… Anna, I think you said her name was?"

"Yes, the one in the green is Anna," said Queen Arianna rather absentmindedly, as her thunderstruck eyes were focused on her two nieces. Or rather, they were zeroed in on Elsa in particular, and she had great difficulty hiding her shock. "But the other one? I can't believe that's Elsa!"

Even King Frederic looked astounded as he watched Elsa recite the sacred oaths back to the bishop. "I agree… She looks so different!"

Rapunzel's brow furrowed in confusion. "Different?" she questioned.

"Queenie's supposed to be a brunette," Eugene whispered, he too looking rather puzzled as he watched on. "But… she's not. She's got platinum blonde hair… Did she dye it? And does the princess dye that one strand of her hair white, too? She's supposed to be all red-head…"

Rapunzel's confusion only grew. Were her parents and fiancé telling the truth when they said didn't fully recognize her two cousins? And what about Eugene? Her mother and father saying that they didn't recognize Elsa and Anna was one thing, as they had met both of them back when the Arendelle castle gates were open all the time. But Eugene? How did he know all of this? The golden-haired princess with the longest braid imaginable desperately wanted some answers to these questions, but she knew that now was not the time to ask. The coronation was still going on. She would have to ask about it later.

But the Coronans weren't the only ones who were speculating about the noticeable difference between Elsa and Anna. So were the royals and nobles from Dunbroch.

"Those lasses look mighty different from one another, I say!"

"They got the same blue eyes, but that's where the similarities end…"

"The second-born girl looks more like she's the one with the Arendelle royal blood, not the first-born…"

"Aye, the princess looks like a perfect mixture of her father and mother, but the queen? She doesn't look a thing like her so-called father…"

"Fergus! My lords! Please! Quiet down!"

"Our apologies, your majesty…"

"Aye. Sorry, Elinor…"

Merida wished her mother hadn't told her father and Lords Malcom, Duncan, and Ewan to shut up, and a quick look out of the corner of her eye told her that her little brothers and the lords' sons wished that she hadn't either.

Because quite frankly, her father and the leaders of the three other noble clans in her kingdom were correct.

The new queen and the princess of Arendelle couldn't look more different from one another.

She tugged at the wimple covering her hair as she watched the new queen and the princess separate from their hug and then move into position before the bishop so that the platinum-blonde could recite her vows as the ruler of the realm. Was this some kind of joke? There was no way that this Elsa girl could really be the late King Agnar's daughter. The daughter of the late Queen Idun? Yes. Definitely yes. Her face was all but a mirror image of the previous queen. But the king? Elsa didn't look a thing like him…

Was this girl really the eldest daughter of the king? While it was true that Merida and her little brothers Hamish, Hubert, and Harris didn't look a thing like their mother, they still resembled their father who was the true leader of Dunbroch, even if their mother was the one who kept the kingdom from falling into political upheaval. Since the four royal children took after their father so much, no one doubted their claims to the throne of Dunbroch.

But this Elsa?

Was it possible that she didn't even _have_ a claim to the throne of Arendelle?

The moment Merida thought this, she immediately knew she could never so much as whisper this thought out loud. She might not know Elsa or Anna at all, but she certainly did not want to be the one to throw the theory into the air that it was possible that the new Queen Elsa was not really the daughter of King Agnar, but the daughter of Queen Idun and some other unknown man.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the church, there was much less of a commotion being made about what Elsa and Anna looked like from the Viking visitors, because despite the many different Vikings that had come all the way to Arendelle to help secure the alliance that they wished to create with the new Norwegian queen, only three had elected to come inside the chapel and witness the coronation ceremony take place. This was because, for one, Vikings didn't believe in the same gods that the rest of Northern Europe did, so being in a place like a church naturally made them uncomfortable. The second reason was the fact that very few of them were willing to spend more time than needed under the same roof as the royals and nobles from Scotland. So only Hiccup, Stoick, and Astrid had taken seats in one of the church rows. Gobber would have come, but thanks to his peg leg and wooden interchangeable hand, he attracted a lot of stares from the rest of the guests, so everyone agreed that it would be best if he waited with the rest of group near the castle until the ceremony was over and the party afterwards began.

"They seem close, the queen and the princess," Hiccup noted, watching how Princess Anna discretely waved one of her hands and smiled encouragingly to her elder sister as the bishop continued speaking in Latin, and Elsa was tuning out the holy man for a moment so as to try and hide a snicker as she smiled back at her little sister.

"Yes, they're certainly very nice looking girls," Stoick agreed.

"But they don't look all that much alike," Astrid muttered under her breath. "Didn't Fishlegs say on the way here that the last king had red hair and the queen was a brunette? Where did the older one get her blonde hair?"

Hiccup shrugged. He honestly had no idea. It was a curious thing that the new queen's hair color was very different from both her parents and her little sister, but that was all that it was. A curiosity. It was none of his business why Elsa was apparently a platinum blonde. It didn't affect his or his people's reasoning for coming to this coronation to secure a trade alliance with Arendelle in the slightest.

Jack, however, was completely unaware of the various speculations about Elsa's hair, as his eyes and ears were focused only on the bishop, as he finally finished having Elsa swear her vows before him.

It was time.

With a small gulp, he motioned for Emma to follow him as he moved to where the beautiful, emerald green pillows with gold designs at the edges had been sitting on a side table near the end of the aisle. On top of each of them were the three coronation objects that had to be given to Elsa so she could officially be named queen.

The tiara that Elsa was to be crowned with was made of pure gold, and looked more like an ornamental hair comb rather than an actual crown. It had several jagged structures that stuck straight up in the air and surrounded the one big and bright gem that had been embedded into it: a lone diamond cut sapphire that sparkled in the light from the stained-glass windows that lined the walls of the cathedral.

The crown was beautiful, no doubt about that, but Jack paid the crown little mind as that was what Emma was supposed to be carrying down the aisle. His attention was focused more on the royal orb and scepter on the pillow next to the golden tiara.

Like Elsa's crown, the royal orb and scepter were both made out of pure gold lined with diamond shaped sapphires around the middle. There were intricate designs of vines around the base of both regal objects, but the most prominent feature upon them was the golden crocus flower that had been carefully fused to the top of them. It wasn't all that surprising, considering that the crocus flower was the emblem of the Arendelle royal family, but just that added touch of the flowers upon both objects made the orb and scepter look even more majestic and stunning.

Emma didn't notice Jack's apprehension as he stared down at the coronation items, and she smiled happily up at him as she collected the plush green pillow with the tiara. "I'm so excited, Jackie! This is our big moment!" she whispered excitedly.

Jack just vaguely nodded in her direction, not even really hearing what it was she said. He was far too nervous to listen to her excited jabbering.

He couldn't do this.

Not without his gloves.

He had to keep them on.

If anyone bugged him later about breaking the standard servant coronation protocol after the ceremony, he would just play dumb.

He just couldn't do this without his gloves.

Jack attempted to reach for the edges of the pillow and carry it along with the orb and scepter down the aisle as though nothing was wrong, but a small tap on his shoulder from the fellow castle employee Gerda quickly stopped him.

"Jackson? The gloves," she quietly reminded him.

If it weren't for the two facts that, one, feeling any type of emotion made his powers shoot out uncontrollably and, two, this was the middle of the Arendelle royal cathedral where Elsa's coronation as queen was currently taking place, Jack would have screamed, " _God dammit!"_ Now he couldn't even play dumb about his gloves! He had no choice. He had to carry the pillow barehanded and simply hope that nothing happened with his powers.

Pausing for a moment to take a deep breath for some desperately needed self-confidence, Jack glanced down at his white gloved hands. For ten years, the only time he dared to remove his gloves from his hands was when he bathed or simply needed to grab a different pair from the drawer in his bedroom if the pair he had been wearing needed to be washed or somehow wound up with a hole. And during the instances he had his gloves off his hands, he was always quick to replace them as fast as possible, making sure to touch absolutely nothing with his bare hands except the fabric of the gloves themselves. Other than those times, he always made sure to keep his gloves on.

He mentally prayed to whatever gods or spirits might be watching over him right now that he could get through the next thirty seconds without causing the pillow and the royal orb and scepter to be encased in huge blocks of freezing cold ice. And then, very slowly, Jack gently pulled off the pair of white gloves, and crammed them into the pocket of his green servant jacket.

There was another somewhat lengthy pause as Jack willed himself to believe that everything would be okay, and then he ignored his shaky fingers as he gently picked up the emerald green satin pillow before turning and nodding to Emma to go ahead and start walking down the aisle between the rows of visiting royals and nobles.

Emma beamed happily at everyone in the church as she all but skipped down the aisle right beside her big brother, and many of the guests couldn't help but smile and laugh a bit at her sweet and playful nature as they watched her carry the queen's tiara, but Jack was the exact opposite of his little sister. His expression was as solemn as a statue as he slowly walked down the aisle right next to Emma, carefully balancing the orb and scepter on the pillow in his hands. No one thought much of his behavior in the slightest, as they all automatically assumed that he was rather nervous about doing his one duty well during the coronation.

But in actuality, they couldn't be further from the truth.

Jack had a good firm grip on the pillow and wasn't worried in the slightest about accidentally dropping it or of the gold coronation items slipping and sliding off the green material.

What Jack was worried about was the fact that he could feel his fingers turning ice cold thanks to his anxiety.

Jack never knew what true pressure felt like until right then, forcing himself to keep a relaxed and monotone expression whilst taking slow and deliberate steps as he kept the pillow raised at a respectable height andwalked through the church beside his ignorant little sister to where Elsa, Anna, and the bishop were standing. Because inside, Jack was on the verge of a full-scale panic attack. He would have gladly traded away his soul at that moment just for all this to be over.

He wanted to drop the pillow and run right out of the church, hoping like hell that no ice appeared from either his hands or his boot-clad feet as he did.

He wanted to run right up the aisle, shove the pillow with the orb and scepter into the bishop's awaiting hands, and hastily yank his gloves back on his hands.

He wanted to just hand the pillow over to Emma to juggle along with her pillow with the tiara and just vanish safely back into the throng of servants standing in the back of the church, staying as invisible as possible in the crowd.

He wanted…

He wanted…

He wanted to be _normal._

He wanted to stop worrying about his magic and take the time to relish in the significance of this moment.

The princess he had been friends with his entire life and started to secretly love for the past few years was finally becoming the queen. He wished he could just be a normal boy for one moment so he could at least be able to smile at Elsa. Oh, what he wouldn't do just to rid himself of his cursed magic…

The thoughts swirled about around inside his head, and they made Jack feel so miserable and anxious, he suddenly noticed that the very edges of the pillow near his fingers were suddenly gaining a small, barely noticeable covering of cold frost. No one else seemed to notice however, considering that the frost patterns were hardly there, but for a boy who had trained himself for the last ten years to become panicked whenever he saw himself create so much as a single snowflake by pure accident, the icy designs stood out like a sore thumb on the satin green pillow.

His hands began shaking as he gripped the pillow tightly. Don't feel… Don't feel! Just a few more short feet across the expanse of the aisle and he would be done. Only a few more feet left to cross!

Step. Step. Step.

Breathe…

Step. Step. Step.

Breathe…

Step. Step. Step.

 _Breathe…!_

It was a walk to remember for the terrified Jackson Overland, but finally, he and Emma were at last in front of Elsa, Anna, and the bishop. Jack didn't hesitate to hurriedly place the pillow with the orb and scepter on top of the altar before sidestepping out of the way to make room for Emma to set the pillow with Elsa's crown down next to it while he scrambled to get his gloves back on his hands. There was still a bit of frost coating the rim of the pillow, but it was so miniscule, one would have to be looking for it to even notice it was there.

It wasn't until he had his gloves safely back on his hands that Jack let out a deep sigh of relief.

He had done it.

He had carried the orb and scepter on the pillow barehanded without anyone suspecting a thing about his powers.

He was safe.

Thank the heavens!

Jack exhaled in relief as Emma set down the pillow with the tiara on the altar, and then the two siblings bowed and curtsied to Elsa and Anna before moving out of the way and off toward the wall on the right, where there were other castle servants watching from the sidelines. Emma was still a bouncing ball of energy as she stood beside her big brother while watching the bishop pick up the gold tiara and place it gently on Elsa's head, and even Jack couldn't help but smile a bit as he watched Elsa be officially crowned. He was still a bit nervous to be around so many people that he could possibly hurt with his powers, but even so, he was glad he was here. He was so happy and relieved that he hadn't ruined this moment for Elsa, the moment she had been waiting for since the day she was born.

Elsa smiled proudly as she rose from the semi-bowed position she had bent down into so the bishop could place the crown on her head. Then the holy man reached over to collect the pillow with the royal orb and scepter, only to instantly recoil back as soon as he touched it.

Elsa, Anna, and just about every other person in the church other than Jack was immediately puzzled by his reaction.

"Your excellency?" Elsa whispered, clearly confused by his actions.

The bishop rubbed his hands together for a moment before collecting the pillow and then turning to her.

"My apologies, your majesty. The pillow was simply colder than I expected," he replied in a low voice.

Elsa discretely nodded in response before casually removing her gloves so she could hold the rod and orb barehanded. It was tradition, after all. All new monarchs in Arendelle must hold the golden scepter and orb with their bare hands as they were officially named the new king or queen regnant.

As Jack watched her take off her cyan blue gloves without batting an eye, he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit jealous. Sure, the rules for the coronation weren't Elsa's rules and she had no control over traditions that had been put in place for who knows how many centuries during coronations, but even so… she had no worries whatsoever when it came to taking off her gloves so she could touch things.

To Elsa, gloves were nothing more than a fashion accessory for today.

But for Jack, gloves were a means of concealment that kept everyone else in the world safe from him.

Jack knew that him feeling this way was rather ridiculous and it wasn't her fault that he had been born with this horrible magic, but still… she could touch the same objects he had a few moments ago without feeling any fear or anxiety. It just wasn't fair…

All of a sudden, Jack felt frost developing inside the confines of his gloves, and even his feet were becoming progressively colder inside his leather boots, and he quickly forced away all thoughts of his momentary envy for Elsa out of his mind. Despite his newfound, slight jealously toward the new queen, he was still in love with her. He wouldn't ruin her coronation. He _wouldn't!_

Jack had barely managed to become an empty doll once again before Elsa was gathering up the golden orb and scepter in each of her hands, and was turning in place to face everyone watching her. It was obvious that she was nervous, as the smile on her face was very rigid and her hands were shaking a bit as she clutched the royal orb and scepter, but she had been trained for this moment her entire life, and she maintained a regal and dignified appearance as everyone in attendance who had been sitting in the pews quickly stood up in respect.

"Sem hon heldr inum helgum eignum ok krýnd í þessum helga stað ek té fram fyrir yðr... Queen Elsa of Arendelle!"announced the bishop.

"Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" Jack shouted out along with the rest of the crowd as thunderous applause echoed throughout the church.

Elsa's nervous smile on her face instantly relaxed as a genuine smile appeared instead. Her eyes met Anna's for a moment as she instead began smiling at her, but then turned back around to set the orb and scepter back on the pillow that the bishop was still holding before casually slipping her gloves back on. Then, she turned back around, and smiled kindly at the still happily cheering crowd.

At last, it was all over.

The Crown Princess Elsa was now and officially Queen Elsa.

Elsa was finally the queen.

Despite Jack's terror of possibly hurting others with his ice and snow should he get too emotional, for once he permitted himself to forget all about his cursed powers and simply allowed himself to feel overjoyed for his secret crush. He was beyond happy for her. He was proud to finally be able to declare to the world that Elsa was the queen of his country. She would lead Arendelle with grace and wisdom. She would be the greatest queen in the history of their kingdom, no doubt about it.

As he continued to cheer and applaud for the brand new monarch, Elsa's eyes swept across the room as she smiled kindly to everyone, but then her eyes happen to lock onto his, and for a short moment, time seemed to stop for Jack. His heart began thumping madly in his chest as he fought the urge to blush. He couldn't let himself feel embarrassed by her sudden attention to him. He just nodded cordially back to her with a polite smile on his face, unwilling to risk doing anything further. He was standing too far away to be able to get a good look at her facial expressions, but for a fraction of a second, Jack could have sworn that he saw flickers of disappointment appear in Elsa's eyes at his simple courteous nod to her for choosing to smile at him of all people. Before he could confirm it though, her whole-hearted smile returned to her face, and she looked away from him to keep smiling at the rest of the crowd still clapping for her.

Guilt tore through Jack's heart like a knife. He must have really hurt Elsa's feelings this time. He knew he would have been hurt if he was in her place. He was only thinking about everyone's safety when he just nodded politely to her, but in Elsa's eyes, his dismissal of her kind smile must have been highly offensive. Out of all the people the eldest daughter of King Agnar could have looked at, she had looked at him in that moment, wanting to see whole-hearted smiles of congratulations, but he had not fulfilled that one desire.

Jack clenched his hands into tight fists to suppress his powers as a wave of sadness washed over him.

He could live with the fact that his stupid powers made him miserable.

But they indirectly made the people who he cared for miserable, too.

* * *

Hours ticked past for Jack as Elsa and Anna made an appearance down in the village directly after the ceremony to greet the small folk population as well as appear before the number of visitors from Corona, Dunbroch, and Berk who didn't attend the crowning due to possibly overpopulating the chapel. Everyone who saw the new queen and the princess applauded happily as the sisters worked together to plant a new sapling for hope in the center of the city square just like how their mother would plant one at the beginning of the Spring festival before the gates were mysteriously closed.

"A new tree for a new beginning of this kingdom," Elsa declared after she and Anna had finished packing soil together around the tiny sprout. "May this be a symbol of new hope for this country. From this day forward, Arendelle shall no longer be closed off to the rest of the world. We shall welcome people from other countries with open arms and a wish for both peace and prosperity."

Thunderous applause from both the peasants and nobles followed her short speech.

There was a new queen sitting upon the throne.

One that wished to end the isolation of the castle and instead allow people to come back inside the castle gates.

It was everything that both the common people and the royals from other kingdoms had wanted for many years now.

Everyone was so happy.

Everyone that is, except Jack.

Jack was miserable as he, along with some other servants like Kai and Gerda, skipped the symbolic planting of the new tree in town as they instead finished up a few last-minute preparations for the grand ball that was going to be held in the Great Hall directly afterwards. Even though most of the servants were disappointed to be missing this special event in town, most of them shook aside their feelings and instead chatted amongst themselves about how wonderful and fun things were going to be here in the Arendelle castle thanks to Elsa and Anna's decision to overrule the late King Agnar and Queen Idun's decision to seemingly lock the castle gates forever. But Jack did not join in on the merry conversations as he helped set up trays of delicious foods and exquisite wines on the large buffet tables situated against one of the walls of the decadent ballroom. He just tried to stay invisible in the shadows as he did his duties.

He didn't want to think about the open gates.

The open gates meant that he had to leave this place.

This castle was the only home he had ever known, but he didn't have a choice.

It wasn't safe for him to be around mass quantities of people.

He was forbidden to be allowed to experience fun, because having fun meant feeling emotions.

Tonight would be the one-time exception to being around people, though.

He was still technically a servant here in the castle until he handed in his resignation notice tomorrow, and because he couldn't get out of unfortunately acting as a waiter for the party tonight, he would have to be in here.

He could hang in there and keep his powers under control for a couple more hours.

He knew he could.

And so, while some of the servants like Emma and Jamie and the other servant kids watched excitedly as the festivities outside commenced, and other servants like Kai and Gerda talked and laughed happily about how wonderful things were going to be in the castle as they finished up the preparations in the Great Hall, Jack kept his head down and his mouth shut as he did his duties. He would stay as silent as possible tonight. He would stay on the sidelines of the Great Hall as he carried his glasses of wine on a tray. If he was lucky, he would stay invisible to the rest of the world and none of the guests would ask him to refill their drinks. He just had to stay positive.

It was early evening when the festivities outside ended and the preparations inside the castle were complete, and that was when the nobility started entering the castle.

To avoid detection and conversation with anyone, Jack pushed a somewhat off center bust of a long-deceased king of the country into its proper place on a stand, and watched happily as the empty wall beside it swung open. He slipped inside and hastily shut the wall behind him, determined not to go back out again until he was one hundred percent positive that the vast majority of the guests were out of the hallway and inside the Great Hall. Back when he was really little and before his magic accident involving Elsa, Anna, and Emma, discovering all the secret passages in the castle had been a great way to spend his time. He would spend hours pressing his small hands against random stones in the walls and fiddling with trinkets that lined the end tables in the various corridors, all in hopes of finding a loose stone to push or a trinket on a pressure plate or lever that would open a secret hallway in the wall, or maybe make a trapdoor with a ladder appear from the ceiling. In the many years that he had lived in the castle, he had discovered some hidden locations that he doubted even King Agnar and Queen Idun had known about, judging by how dusty and cobwebby they were. But after his accident, the secret passageways became a means of sanctuary for Jack. If there was ever a time while he performed his servant duties that he knew he was about to lose control of his magic and was nowhere close to his bedroom to hide away in for a while, he would instead find one of the many secret areas in the castle and would let his magic loose in there. Or sometimes, he would hear either Elsa, Anna, or Emma coming down a hallway looking for him during one of his vulnerable moments, so instead of allowing one of them to confront him, he would duck into a hole in the wall and remain as quiet as possible until he was certain they were gone.

And now, the secret passages were a way for Jack to hide until everyone was inside the Great Hall so he wouldn't be seen. He couldn't afford to attract anyone's attention. He needed to remain as invisible as possible during the party tonight. The less people saw him as he did his job as a waiter, the safer everyone would be.

As he waited quietly inside the darkened passageway lined by rough and uneven stone walls, Jack thought back to what the wind had whispered to him earlier this morning.

"I'm in danger…? Who the hell am I in danger from…?" he muttered.

Jack was used to the wind telling him by now that he ought to leave Arendelle castle and that there was something evil coming after him, but he had always assumed that his talks with the wind were just figments of his imagination he had made up in order to give him some form of a companion during his years of isolation from both the princesses and his little sister. But before today, the wind had never sounded so desperate for him to listen to it. Like it honestly was trying to tell him that something dangerous really was just around the corner and was trying to kill him…

Jack honestly didn't know what to make of this. The wind obviously wanted him to leave the castle immediately and just bolt. To where, Jack didn't know, but the wind was telling him to just drop everything and run. But why? Why now? Why on the day of Elsa's coronation? Why before the day that he was planning to quit his work here in the Arendelle castle anyway and take Emma with him to go work as an ice harvester? It was all so strange…

There were only two things that Jack was absolutely certain of when it came to the imaginary voice in the breeze.

One, despite the fact that the voices he heard in the air currents could very well be proof that he was quite possibly not right in the head, Jack knew without a shadow of a doubt that the wind was his friend. Just like how he could never hurt it, it would never try to hurt him, and it wasn't trying to be weird when it told him to leave Arendelle and run away. It was trying to help him.

And two, when the wind told him to run, it wasn't telling him to bring Emma with him when he left Arendelle.

It wanted him to run and leave her behind.

And Jack didn't know if he could do that.

He knew Emma had to stay safe and be protected from him, but she was still his little sister! If he did what the wind asked and left her behind here in the castle when he ran away… that would make him no different from his god damn father. True, Tobias had technically been banished from the kingdom by Agnar and Idun after it was discovered that he was beating him, but even so… Tobias got fed up with dealing with his powers and had initially planned to leave the family anyways…

Jack didn't want to be anything like his father.

He didn't want to be anything remotely similar to the asshole who beat his helpless son just because he couldn't control his cursed ice and snow magic.

In fact, after being afraid of hurting others with his powers, being a monster like Tobias Overland was what Jack was terrified of the most in this world.

So long as he lived and breathed, he would not hurt other people.

Not with his horrible magic, and certainly not with his fists.

After a short time, the noise in the hallway died down, and Jack took that as a sign that most of the castle guests had finally finished assembling inside the Great Hall. The dark-haired teen took a deep breath for courage, and then pushed open the hatch in the wall to go back out into the hallway before heading inside the beautifully decorated ballroom.

As he suspected, most of the guests were inside already as he quietly slipped in, and they were already mingling amongst themselves as they either danced or listened to the orchestra that had been hired for the night play a fast-paced melody, so nobody saw him enter. Elsa and Anna weren't in attendance yet, so the party had yet to officially start, but that didn't stop people from enjoying themselves even so. As he stuck to the walls of the room while making his way toward the refreshment table to grab a tray with some glasses of wine to carry as he was supposed to, he spotted Emma chatting and laughing with Jamie and the rest of her friends. They were also chatting with those three red-headed triplet princes from the Scottish country of Dunbroch, and all of them were standing near the visitors to Dunbroch, were waiting to see the arrival of the new queen and the princess. While the king and queen of Dunbroch were chatting happily with the leaders of the three clans, the princess looked rather irritated as she tried to put up with the sons of the clan leaders, not that any of the three boys even realized that they were annoying her. But the princes seemed to be having the time of their life as they chatted and laughed with Emma and the rest of her fellow servant children friends. Despite the difference in their social standing in life, and the fact that the princes were from a whole other country, they all seemed to be having a lot of fun together.

Jack fought the urge to smile when he saw his sister having fun. He was glad she was happy. He really was, but it was painful for him to see her enjoying herself with both her old friends and new friends, when he knew that come tomorrow, she probably would never see any of them again. As soon as the party was officially over and Emma was fast asleep, Jack intended to start packing up as much of their stuff as soon as possible so that they could flee the castle at the earliest opportunity. If he was lucky, he would be done before dawn and they could leave by tomorrow afternoon. So long as he only packed essentials and a few precious mementos of their mother that neither of them could live without, it was entirely possible that he could be done by dawn.

There was no law that prevented him from quitting his work in the palace, after all, so it wasn't like Elsa and Anna could force him to stay here.

He just had to get through this party, and he would be home free.

No one would know anything about his horrible magic.

No one would know what a monster he truly was when he didn't wear his precious gloves.

Jack stood off on the sidelines with his tray and watched both Emma and the rest of the castle guests all enjoy themselves for a short time, but then Kai stepped forward until he was standing right in front of the small platform where the two thrones had been set up – the bigger one for Elsa, and the smaller one naturally being for Anna – and he raised his hands for everyone to be quiet. Instantaneously, the band stopped playing and people stopped talking as silence fell over the room like a curtain. When Kai was satisfied at the lack of noise, he cleared his throat for good measure, and then proudly gestured to a set of curtains off to the right of the hall.

"Presenting her royal majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" he proclaimed.

Jack quickly set his tray down on the edge of the buffet table as he joined the rest of the crowd in respectfully bowing to Elsa as she emerged from behind the red curtains and gracefully stepped up onto the dais so she could be standing in front of her throne.

Despite having been coronated only this morning and only being eighteen-years-old, Elsa looked so sophisticated standing there on the dais before the crowd of visiting royals and nobles.

She looked so poised and regal in her appearance.

She looked like a true queen.

"And also presenting her royal highness," Kai continued, now gesturing to a different set of curtains off to the left, "Princess Anna of Arendelle!"

Unlike her older and much more ladylike sister, the fifteen-year-old Princess Anna was obviously very nervous about looking presentable to the crowd, which rather failed as she scrambled out from behind the curtain. She started blushing to the roots of her red hair when she saw the way everyone stared at her for her dramatic exit from behind the red curtain, but she did her best to ignore the stares as she tried to climb up the steps of the dais to stand beside Elsa. Of course, being the quirky and unorthodox princess that she was, she tripped over her own feet at the top of the steps and nearly toppled over. Many people looked on with worry, but Elsa caught hold of Anna's hand and quickly helped her to maintain her center of balance before she fell all the way. No one watching could hear exactly what was said between the two sisters, but it was clear that Anna was obviously apologizing to Elsa for ruining their entrance to the party. Elsa, however, was not the slightest bit mad though, and she said something quietly that made them both laugh before they turned their attention back to their audience. With matching smiles, the Arendelle queen and princess smiled kindly to their guests and nodded politely before dipping down into respectable curtsies to the crowd, and everyone watching applauded accordingly. It was clear that despite how different the queen and the princess were, they loved each other with all their hearts. They were truly the perfect set of sisters.

Jack waited for the applause to die down before he dared to stop clapping and pick up the tray of wine glasses that he had set aside. Even though their plan to open the castle gates truly screwed him over and the only way he could keep people safe was for him to leave, he truly was happy for the two of them. Anna was still his friend even if he avoided speaking to her as often as he could, and Elsa? She was the love of his life, even if he had to keep his feelings to himself. He doubted she even had the slightest idea of how he felt since he was so good at hiding his emotions, and Jack intended to keep it that way. No one could ever know what went on inside his head. His secrets were his, and his alone.

"Hey, Jackie! Aren't you going to start offering people all those drinks you got?"

If it weren't for the fact that the slightest jostling of movement could make all the drinks on his tray topple over to spill and send glass shattering everywhere, Jack would've jumped. He had been so focused on watching Elsa and Anna, he hadn't even noticed that Emma had seemingly excused herself from Jamie and the rest of her friends along with the Scottish princes Hamish, Hubert, and Harris to come and talk to him.

"Oh, Emma! I… I didn't see you there…" he said carefully, immediately putting back up his emotional barriers. He couldn't let his sweet and innocent sister get close to him. Physically or emotionally.

However, Emma took no notice of how rigid her older brother became the second she spoke to him, and instead began bouncing on the balls of her feet as she looked up at him with stars in her eyes.

"You look like the perfect waiter right now, Big Brother! Dressed up fancy and carrying the tray with drinks in one hand! You're a good role model!"

A role model? Him? Jack considered himself to be the furthest thing from being a good role model to his little sister. He did not – in any way, shape, or form – want Emma to grow up following his example, closing herself off to the world by keeping her emotions bottled up tight and being afraid of hurting anyone near her just from touching them. She was a thousand times over a better person than he would ever be.

"Me? No way. You're the perfect one, Emma," he said matter-of-factly.

It wasn't exactly said with a smile, but he didn't shrug her away, either, so Emma took his words as a sign that Jack was actually willing to engage in a full out conversation with her. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a complete conversation with her big brother. Normally, whenever she tried to talk to Jack in the past, he would give her one-worded answers before either telling her to stop knocking on his bedroom door and just go away, or simply walking away from her whenever she tried to corner him in one of the castle's many winding corridors. The fact that he wasn't doing either of these things right now was astonishing, and Emma knew she had to seize this rare opportunity in chatting with him. She wanted more than anything to know what it felt like to have a big brother who loved her. That was something she was starting to doubt that she would ever have with Jack.

"Thanks, Jackie!" she giggled. "So, what about those glasses? Aren't you going to go around and ask people if they want any?"

Jack momentarily glanced over at the tray in his hands with all the pristine glasses of red wine balanced carefully upon it before he shrugged. "I figured I would just wait here and let people come to me," he stated. "I don't want to seem like I'm bothering people by constantly breathing down their necks."

"Oh, okay! That makes sense," said Emma, nodding sagely with that same happy smile on her face.

"Glad to see you agree," Jack replied, a small smile of his own stretching across his lips.

There was a brief lapse in conversation as the two estranged siblings stared at one another, both of them realizing that they were forming a small bond for the first time in years. To Emma, this moment felt like she actually had a big brother as family, but to Jack, this moment meant that he was capable of keeping his emotions in check and talking to Emma. He hated having to always push her away and make her believe that he didn't care about her, but it was necessary. But right now? Right now, he could talk to his little sister and try to show her that he really did care about her at the end of the day.

"So," he mused as he turned to look out at all the guests mingling with one another in the crowd and all the couples dancing out on the dancefloor. "This is what a royal ball looks like, huh?"

Emma nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh! There's soooooooo many people! And they all look so pretty!"

Jack quirked a brow at that. "Really? The guys look pretty?" he teased.

Emma playfully stuck out her tongue at him. "Handsome, okay? They look _handsome!_ The girls are the pretty ones! They're all dressed up in dresses and suits!"

"Well, what did you expect at a grand party?"

"I don't know… but definitely not for it to be so hot! It's stuffy in here!"

"It's from having so many people in this one room. Don't worry about it. In fact, I'm surprised you haven't noticed something much more important yet."

"Something more important? What do you mean, Big Brother?"

"Well, what is that amazing smell?"

Emma blinked, but then began sniffing the air. Within seconds, her eyes lit up brightly.

"Chocolate!" she exclaimed. "Wow! I love chocolate! Can I have some from the buffet table, Jack? Pleeeeeeease?"

"Well, technically that chocolate is reserved for the guests, and since we're just the staff, we're not supposed to touch it."

"Oh…"

" _But…_ I don't think anyone will mind if we just took two tiny pieces, provided of course you know how to keep a secret, right?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I can keep a secret, Jackie! I promise! I promise!"

Jack winked mischievously at little Emma, and then he motioned for her to stay and wait right here before he made his way back over to the refreshment stand. Under the pretense of adding a few more glasses of wine to his tray, Jack's eyes darted in every direction imaginable to make sure that no one was watching, and then he slipped two small chocolate truffles into his pocket before making his way back over to Emma.

"Here," he told her with a smile, dropping one of the small chocolate candies into her hand but keeping the other for himself.

Emma beamed happily. "Thank you, Jackie!" she chirped, popping the sweet into her mouth.

Jack smiled as he ate his own bit of chocolate. "Anytime, Emma. Anytime," he told her simply.

Emma just couldn't stop smiling as she munched on her treat. Finally! After a lifetime of wondering if her big brother would ever be nice and actually talk to her, Jack was acting in a way that a big brother should act towards his little sister! She was so happy she wanted to shout out for the world to hear that her big brother, Jackson Overland, was having a conversation with her! She could die happy right now!

As soon as she had swallowed the last of her small morsel of chocolate, Emma looked back up at her big brother with a hopeful look on her small, cute face. This was the moment she had been waiting to have with Jack for over ten years. She couldn't let this moment pass by without trying to talk to him some more. She opened her mouth to say something – anything – but that was when another voice cut through the air, attracting both of their attention.

"Stealing chocolates from the refreshment table? I expected this behavior from Emma, but certainly not from you, Jackson!"

Jack and Emma both turned around. Standing behind them was none other than Gerda. She was trying to look rather cross at the two siblings, but it was clear by the expression on her face that she was more amused than angry.

"Oh! Hi, Miss Gerda!" Emma chirped, not looking the slightest bit ashamed of stealing the chocolates.

"Gerda! My apologies!" Jack gasped. Unlike his carefree little sister, he did look rather remorseful for his naughty actions.

Gerda raised a brow at the Overland brother and sister, and then she forced her voice to take on a stern tone even though her lips were still turned up to show she still found the entire situation to be quite comical. "I'm glad to see that the two of you are getting along, Jack, Emma, but there are guests here that are looking for drinks. Please go and offer them some wine, Jackson. And Emma? You and the other children are on cleanup duty. There's already a small spill on the other end of the table. There's a small dustpan and broom over there behind the curtains. Go take care of it, please."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Okay, Miss Gerda!"

The two siblings parted in order to do their duties, Jack as a waiter, and Emma as part of the clean-up crew. Jack kept his emotions in check as he weaved his way through the crowd offering drinks to people. He was nervous no doubt to be around so many people, but he kept his head down and spoke as little as possible to keep the partygoers from paying too much attention to him as they either accepted glasses of wine or waved him away. He was hopeful at this point that things were going to be okay. His last night acting as a servant in the castle would go by with no problems! No one would know anything about his powers by the time the party was over.

But Jack was quickly interrupted from his musing by the sound of an argument back over by the refreshment table.

"Sir! I'm just trying to clean up the mess! Could you move your foot please?"

"Lass, I'm in the middle of a conversation here. Go and clean elsewhere."

"But I was _ordered_ to clean up _this_ mess right now!"

Jack shook his head in amusement as he slipped his way back through the crowd. Trust Emma to get the nobles annoyed with her just because she was doing her job a little too well.

He quickly found Emma glaring angrily up at the Scottish lords from Dunbroch as she clutched her small dustpan and broom tightly. Jack didn't exactly know which lord was which, but he plastered an apologetic look on his face as he approached them and bowed respectfully.

"My lords, I apologize if my sister was bothering you. Emma? Why don't you leave this mess alone for the time being. It's okay to not clean an area if there are guests mingling right near it."

"Are you sure, Jackie?"

"Yeah, go on. You can clean this little spill later."

"'Kay."

Emma toddled off to go and stand back in the same corner that the two of them had been speaking in earlier, and after Jack bowed to the three Scottish noblemen one last time, he prepared to go and follow her, but then he caught wind of what the Scotsmen were saying, and it took everything that he had to not literally freeze up everything with his powers.

"Such a strange little girl."

"Aye, aye… But not nearly as strange as the new queen! Look at her hair! She looks _nothing_ like her father!"

"Kinda makes you wonder if she's even related to King Agnar, eh?"

"Aye. You don't suppose that the late Queen Idun was with someone else, do yeh?"

Jack chose at that moment to move as far away from the chatting lords as he possibly could, doing his best to not get anxious and worried. In all of Jack's worries about what might happen tonight, this was something that he had never considered: people questioning whether or not Elsa was the legitimate daughter of King Agnar and Queen Idun because of his accident with her back when he was a kid. If he hadn't accidently struck her on the head with his ice magic and caused all her hair to become platinum-blonde, Elsa would still be a brunette. Sure, even before his accident with her and Anna back when they were kids, Elsa had always favored Idun rather than Agnar, but at least she would look exactly like Idun in every possible way, so people like the Scottish lords wouldn't be wondering if Idun had had an affair with some unknown man that had white-blonde hair.

Only Jack knew the truth, and he wanted to scream it out for everyone in the room to hear so that they would stop gossiping about the girl he was in love with, who had no idea what people were saying. Queen Idun had loved King Agnar with all her heart! She would never have cheated on him! Elsa was a blonde because of him! Jackson Overland! It was neither hers and nor her mother's doing that led to her being a platinum blonde! It was _his_ fault! His!

Still though, he sealed his emotions off tight, not allowing himself to feel anything about learning what people thought of Elsa. It didn't matter anyway. Tomorrow, he would be gone. Nothing that happened here in the castle would be his problem anymore. He just had to learn to deal with what people would think of Elsa out in the world as he did the work of an ice harvester.

When he finally caught up to Emma, he forced a smile on his face so she wouldn't worry.

"Well, you seem to be working diligently," he commented.

Emma nodded. "Uh-huh! Especially now when we're around castle guests! Everything has to be perfect! But I doubt those Scottish lords care one way or another if everything looks nice…"

"Are you okay?" Jack asked her.

Emma's smile only growing bigger and brighter with each passing second. "Are you kidding, Jack? I've never been better! This is so nice, what with having people in the castle and actually talking to you! I wish things would always be this way."

Within mere seconds, Jack's smile became rather gloomy in nature. "Me too… but they can't," he said sadly, immediately looking away from Emma to gaze miserably down at his feet.

Emma blinked. "But why not? Princess Els— Oh! I mean, _Queen Elsa_ and Princess Anna are opening the gates up to everyone from now on! So all you have to do is be nice to me and everyone else and—"

"I _can't_ do that, Emma!" Jack unintentionally snapped, taking a few steps away from the little girl for good measure when she attempted to grab hold of the arm not holding up the tray of glasses.

Emma instinctively recoiled back from the force of his half-yell, and a hurt look spread across her face in place of her previous smile. Guilt tore through Jack's heart when he saw her expression, but he didn't dare apologize to her or explain himself. The only way Emma would stay safe from him was if she remained ignorant of what he could do.

He had hurt Elsa and Anna with his magic in the past.

He would not hurt Emma, too.

She was his little sister, and as the big brother, it was his job to protect her from everything.

Even from himself.

If that meant he had to push her away whenever she tried to talk to him, he would do it.

If that meant he had to constantly hurt her feelings by cruelly snapping at her whenever she tried to initiate physical contact, so be it.

Her safety was all that mattered in this world.

He would die a thousand times over if that meant he could keep her safe.

But of course, Emma didn't know what her older brother's thought process was behind his actions. The moment that Jack snapped at her, the little girl just assumed that her brother was just falling back into his old thought process of letting no one thaw his frozen heart.

What did she expect was going to happen when she tried talking with him right now? That tonight at the coronation party he would suddenly start hugging her and joking with her and being the big brother that any little girl could ever dream of having?

She was so stupid.

Her lower lip trembled as she turned away from Jack, and looked back out into the throng of castle guests until she spotted all her friends cleaning up a small spill near one of the many pillars on the opposite side of the room, and funnily enough they were still joined by the Dunbroch princes Hamish, Hubert, and Harris.

"I think I'm gonna go and hang out with Jamie and the rest of my friends," she murmured sadly. "I'll see you later, Jack…"

And before Jack could say anything in return, Emma shuffled miserably away from him and vanished into the crowd.

Jack's already fragile heart broke in two when he saw his sister wander off. He hated doing that to her. Getting her hopes up that he was coming out of his shell and then trampling on that simple dream by shutting her out again.

It didn't matter that everything he had ever done was to keep her and everyone else in this castle safe from him.

He was still the worst big brother in the world.

* * *

"Elsa, I really am sorry for nearly ruining our entrance! Honestly, I didn't mean to trip like that!"

"Anna, it's fine! It was just an accident! And besides, I'd rather everyone see us for who we are instead of pretending to hide behind a mask!"

"Aww! You're so sweet, Elsa!"

Elsa smiled as Anna tackled her in a crushing hug. While it was true that their entrance had been ruined by her little sister's quirky and dramatic entrance into the Great Hall, the new queen didn't care a bit. Anna wouldn't be Anna if she didn't do something rather theatrical in everything that she did. Even in princess duties. But that didn't matter. Anna was still her dear little sister, and Elsa loved her dearly.

Elsa was about to start hugging her back, but then she noticed Kai was gesturing for a small group of people to approach the dais. Two of them she and Anna hadn't seen in years while the other two were a mystery to her, and Elsa's face lit up brightly as she released Anna from the hug and discretely nodded for her to turn around.

"Better save your hugs, Anna. Look who's coming to greet us," she whispered.

Anna blinked, but then turned her head to see who was approaching the podium. Then she started squealing with joy.

"Elsa! It's Uncle Frederic and Aunt Arianna! They came to the party!"

"And you know who that girl with the long braid that's accompanying them has to be, right?"

"No… after all these years?! Is it really her?!"

"Well, Mother and Father had been going to that ceremony to officially introduce our lost cousin to high society several years ago when they unfortunately passed on. It has to be her!"

"Yes… I can't believe that we're finally going to meet our lost cousin! But who's that man accompanying them that's linked arms with her?"

"I'm not sure… it's been three years since our cousin was found. Perhaps she has a suitor now?"

"Ah, of course! You always were the smart one between the two of us, Elsa!"

Elsa barely managed to hide a small giggle behind her hand before the Coronan royal family, along with their cousin's apparent suitor, reached the dais alongside Kai, and Kai bowed respectfully to Elsa and Anna before nodding politely to the visiting royals behind him.

"Your majesty? Your highness? The Coronan king and queen, and the Coronan princess and her fiancé, Eugene Fitzherbert," he introduced.

Elsa and Anna both blinked at that last bit in the introduction. They remembered from the life changing letter their father received a few years ago that their cousin was supposedly in love with the man who had rescued her from her kidnapper, but they hadn't been expecting her to be engaged when they met her. However, they both maintained their dignified expressions as they smiled kindly at their relatives from Germany, and they curtsied politely.

"King Frederic, Queen Arianna," said Elsa pleasantly.

"We're so happy you came to the coronation!" Anna exclaimed.

King Frederic and Queen Arianna both smiled kindly, and they, along with their daughter and her fiancé, bowed and curtsied kindly in return to the new queen and the second-born princess.

"We might as well do away with formality. We are family, after all!" Frederic exclaimed.

Arianna nodded brightly, her whole face glowing as she gazed happily at her late brother's two daughters. "I have waited over ten years to see you girls again! I think a greeting between all of us should be more intimate than mere bows and curtsies!" she agreed.

Elsa and Anna both beamed as they stepped down off the platform and quickly embraced their paternal aunt and uncle by marriage with loving hugs.

"Uncle Frederic! Aunt Arianna! It's been far too long!" Elsa exclaimed as she hugged Arianna tightly.

"We've missed you both so much!" Anna gushed, squeezing Frederic with all her might.

The Coronan king and queen both laughed as they hugged Elsa and Anna back with just as much love in their hearts, and the only reason the four separated was so that Elsa and Anna could instead hug the opposite monarch that they had been hugging before. When at last they were all done greeting each other, the Arendelle queen and princess broke away from the hugs to instead focus their attention on the eighteen-year-old girl with a long blonde braid cascading down her shoulders and the dark-haired man with the shock of brown hair on his chin that were standing beside them.

"You must be Rapunzel! Our formerly lost cousin!" Anna enthused. "Elsa and I have always wanted to meet you!"

The former Lost Princess of Corona blushed at her younger spritely cousins' words, but then nodded with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Ever since I learned I had cousins, I've always wanted to meet both of you too, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna!" she said brightly. "I wished my parents and I could have come to see both of you sooner!"

"To you, Anna and I are not 'queen' or 'princess,'" Elsa said with a smile. "We're family! Don't be afraid to speak to us informally! Anna and I only addressed your parents by their proper titles when all of you approached us because this is technically a formal setting, but now that the pleasantries are out of the way, we have no problem calling them both 'uncle' and 'aunt.'"

Rapunzel laughed. "I'll keep that in mind in the future! You both seem very nice!"

Anna giggled as well. "You as well, Rapunzel! You as well!"

Rapunzel smiled happily, but then a thought came to her mind, and her expression quickly turned very sad.

"I… I would also like to take a moment to apologize to both of you."

"Apologize?" Anna repeated, she and Elsa exchanging looks of confusion. "What do you need to apologize to us for? You've done nothing wrong!"

"It's… It's because of me that your parents… Uncle Agnar and Aunt Idun… they passed away because they were going to Corona to meet me a few years ago… I've always felt guilty for that. I wanted to properly apologize to both of you! I'm so sorry about what happened!"

"Rapunzel! Anna and I have never once blamed you for that!" Elsa said hurriedly, her words sounding genuinely kind. "It wasn't your fault! It was just a freak storm that caused the shipwreck! We don't hate you for that!"

"Yeah! Elsa and I would never once think ill of someone for a reason like that!" Anna agreed. "It was… It was just our parents' time, I guess… We miss them obviously, but we don't hate you because they were on their way to officially meet you!"

"Oh, I see… I guess I was kind of worried for nothing then!"

Elsa smiled at her slightly embarrassed cousin, and then turned her attention to Eugene who had been surprisingly silent this entire time. "It's also a pleasure to meet you, Lord Eugene. It was quite a surprise for Anna and me to learn that our cousin is engaged upon first meeting her!"

Anna nodded in agreement, but her brows furrowed with confusion as she studied him. "This might sound totally crazy considering that Elsa and I haven't left the castle to even go down into the village since we were kids, but have we met before, Lord Eugene?" she asked. "You… You look so familiar! I get the feeling that I've seen you somewhere in the past!"

Eugene jumped a bit, but then he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I-I-I don't see how we could have met before, Princess Anna! For one thing, I'm not exactly a lord, so you don't have to call me that. I was born a commoner."

"A commoner?" Elsa repeated, genuinely surprised. "I never would have guessed! I mean no disrespect to you, Eugene, but commoners generally don't marry royalty…"

Rapunzel smiled. "My fiancé is a special case. He was the one who rescued me from the woman who kidnapped me when I was baby. And Anna? I'm sure the reason you recognize him is because before he rescued me he used to be known as the notorious thief, Flynn Rider."

Anna was amazed. "You were a thief?!" she repeated, sounding incredulous at the very idea. "How… How does a thief end up saving a kidnapped princess?!"

"That's… kind of a long story…" Eugene trailed off.

"We promise we'll tell you girls all about it later over the course of our visit here in Arendelle, but before we go off so you can greet the rest of the guests, Frederic and I do have one question we wish to ask of both of you, Elsa, Anna."

"Oh? And what would that be, Aunt Arianna?"

"Ask away, Auntie! Ask away!"

"Well, Arianna and I were simply wondering why you both chose to start dyeing your hair."

Elsa and Anna were visibly taken aback.

"Beg your pardon, Uncle?" Elsa said.

"Your hair! You used to be such a beautiful brunette just like your mother, Elsa, and now your hair is blonde! And Anna? You have that one streak in your hair that is as white as Elsa's! When did you both choose to start dyeing it?"

Elsa and Anna both blinked, thoroughly confused, but then Elsa turned to Anna with a rather satisfied look on her face.

"There! You see, Anna? I'm not crazy! Even Uncle Frederic and Aunt Arianna say that I used to have brown hair and that you never had that one white streak!"

"Oh please, Elsa! This is some clever way for you to admit that you were right! Right? You probably sent them a letter asking them to play along with this little fantasy of yours just so you can prove me wrong! Uncle Frederic, Aunt Arianna? How exactly did Elsa here beg you to pretend that she used to be a brunette and that all my hair was strawberry-blonde, hmm? Did she promise to arrange for us to take a trip to Corona after the ball so that we can visit you at your castle for the first time in years? Well, I can guarantee that that wasn't necessary! Elsa and I would be happy to go and visit all of you very soon! Perhaps later this summer? We haven't been to one of the Festival of Light celebrations since we were little and Mother and Father locked the gates!"

The Coronans were all confused. "We… We don't know what either of you are talking about, Elsa, Anna," Arianna said slowly.

"Oh, you and Uncle Frederic don't have to keep pretending, Auntie! It's all out in the open now! Elsa asked you to pretend that she used to be a brunette back when she was little, didn't she? Well, you can let it go now! We all know she's always been beautiful with her platinum-blonde hair, and I look positively unique with my one lock of white hair! Who cares what color our hair is?! We're still sisters and very best friends!"

Even though Elsa was still intrigued that her Coronan aunt and uncle were verifying the fact that apparently she hadn't been crazy all these years for believing that, once upon a time, she had her mother Queen Idun's gorgeous chocolate brown hair, she did have to admit that Anna did have a point.

"Anna's right, Uncle Frederic, Aunt Arianna. I suppose it doesn't really matter what the deal is with our hair. We're still us in the end!"

"But if you want to talk about hair, you should tell Elsa and me all about yours, Rapunzel! We know your blonde hair comes from that magic golden flower Auntie ate back when she was pregnant with you, but the length of your hair is amazing! So long, and yet it looks so healthy!"

Elsa nodded. "I agree! Your hair is so beautiful, Rapunzel, but why do you choose to keep it so long?

To Elsa and Anna's surprise, their aunt and uncle smiled fondly, Eugene began to smirk, and Rapunzel blushed lightly as she swept the great heavy braid of blonde hair intertwined with pink and purple ribbons behind her ear.

"That's… a rather interesting story. One which we all wouldn't mind sharing with both of you, Elsa, Anna, considering that we're family! But we'll tell you later! My family is planning to stay here in Arendelle for a nice long visit well after all the others guests that came have returned home!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"Ah, okay! No biggie!"

"All right. Anna and I look forward to spending more time with you, Rapunzel. With all of you, in fact! The two of us have missed you dearly, Uncle Frederic, Aunt Arianna. And Eugene? We're curious about you, too. Anna and I want to know more about the supposed thief that rescued our missing cousin."

"Of course, your majesty."

"Pardon me for interrupting all of you, your majesties, your highnesses, but Queen Elsa? The visitors from the Archipelago request a moment of your time."

Everyone turned. Gerda was standing a bit off to the side, and directly behind her were many of the Vikings that had come all the way from the Barbaric Archipelago to attend the coronation party. At the front and center of the throng of the Northern guests was the chief himself, a large and bulging muscular man with a thick beard of vividly bright red hair, and standing right beside him was his only son and heir, a lean and tall boy with a thick mop of rich auburn hair and bright green eyes.

Stoick the Vast smiled broadly as he beheld the new queen and the princess of the foreign Norwegian country, and then he bowed politely. "Queen Elsa, Princess Anna. Good to meet you at last. I am Chief Stoick from the Isle of Berk. And your majesties King Frederic and Queen Arianna. Good to meet both of you and your daughter and her intended as well. Rapunzel and Eugene, wasn't it?"

The royals from both Arendelle and Corona blinked twice at the introduction. Chief Stoick the Vast from Berk certainly didn't beat around the bush when it came to making himself known, although that trait wasn't exactly shared with his son. The teen looked very nervous as he stood in front of the monarchs, princesses, and the soon-to-be prince consort of two different kingdoms as he unwillingly held his ground beside his father and the people from his island. It was clear that he wished to be anywhere else at this party rather than right here, right now.

Elsa was the first to recover from the momentary surprise though, and she nodded politely to the Viking leader. "It is good to meet you as well, Chief Stoick. It is a pleasure to have you and your people here in Arendelle. It's been a long time since anyone from the Archipelago has visited our shores."

"Well, we've been rather preoccupied with dealing with the dragons that attacked our islands. Until now, we had very little time to think about establishing relationships with places outside of the islands that were around Berk."

"What caused you to start thinking about the outside world of the Archipelago, if you don't mind my asking, Chief Stoick?" Princess Rapunzel suddenly asked.

All heads turned to look over at the Coronan princess, but then Stoick chuckled deeply.

"Well, the war between us and the dragons ended! And it's thanks to my son here!"

Stoick clamped one of his large, meaty hands on his son's shoulder, and the auburn-haired boy's legs nearly buckled under him from the force of his father's enthusiastic pat to his shoulder.

"This is my boy, Hiccup! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III!" the Viking chief proudly announced.

Hiccup's nerves caused a thin bead of sweat to appear near his brow, but he didn't dare try to brush it away. Instead, he forced himself down into a deep and respectable bow.

"Y-You're majesties! Your highnesses! It's… It's an honor!" he gasped out.

Within seconds of the Viking heir's introduction, Elsa, King Frederic, and Queen Arianna were all blinking twice as they processed his name in their heads, and Anna, Rapunzel, and Eugene were all fighting the urge to laugh.

"I'm sorry, but did I hear your father correctly? Did he say that your name is actually Hiccup?" Anna asked, her shoulders quivering with suppressed laughter.

Hiccup's ego visibly deflated as he nodded in exasperation, his nervousness fading away in light of how the Arendelle and Coronan princesses as well as the Coronan princess's fiancé found his name to be quite amusing. "Great name, I know. But it's not the worst…" he mumbled.

Eugene smirked and coughed rather loudly at that, only his cough sounded distinctly like, "Seriously?"

His cheekiness earned him his ear being pulled by his less than pleased blonde fiancé.

"Ow! Hey, Blondie! Watch it!"

"Mind your manners, Eugene! I know you still like to act like Flynn Rider sometimes, but that's no excuse to be rude!"

"Argh! Okay, okay! Prince Hiccup? I apologize! Now, let go Blondie! That hurts!"

Everyone stared at how the Corona princess seemed to know exactly what to do to make her future husband listen to her, but the burly blonde Viking man and the teens that were standing directly behind Hiccup and Stoick seemed to find everything that happened quite humorous.

"Ha! Hear that, cousin?! They're calling you a prince! That's rich!"

"You're royalty, Hiccup! From now on, we'll start bowing to you everywhere we go!"

"Your highness! It is an honor to serve you!"

"Well, remember, guys! He and his father are of the leading bloodline on Berk! He'll be chief someday! He technically is our prince!"

"Aye! Right you are, Fishlegs! Hiccup here will be a fine leader someday! A great chief! He is the Pride of Berk!"

Hiccup felt very awkward as the huge blonde-haired man shuffled forward from behind the rest of the Viking teenagers, and when he finally emerged to pat Hiccup on the head, the Arendelle and Coronan royals were all taken aback when they saw that the huge Viking had a peg leg as well as an arm that acted as a cup holder which he was using to hold onto his drink at the moment. It took everything that the two royal families had to not openly stare at the prosthetic limbs.

Still though, none of the Vikings seemed to mind that everyone's attention had shifted to the wooden peg leg and wooden arm. If anything, they were rather nonchalant about it.

"Ah! Curious about the leg and the arm, are yeh? Everyone is when they first see it."

"Er… yes," Elsa cautiously admitted. "I sincerely apologize if we have offended you, Lord…?"

"Gobber. Gobber the Belch. But no need to call me a lord, your majesty. I may be Stoick's second-in-command, but we don't have the monarchy system back on Berk like your country does. We treat everyone except the chief himself as an equal."

"Yeah, Gobber's right. Please, don't call me a prince," Hiccup added, going so far as to awkwardly begin scratching the back of his neck to express his embarrassment. "I'm just my dad's son. Until I'm the chief one day, I'm no different than any of my friends… even if that does mean that I'm ranked in the same category as you, Snotlout."

"Hey!"

"Yes, well, this is my son, Hiccup, you've all met Gobber, and these others are my nephew Snotlout Jorgenson, the Thorston twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs Ingerman, and Astrid Hofferson. We all wished to extend our thanks to you, Queen Elsa, for being willing to grant an audience tomorrow so that we may discuss a possible alliance between your country and our island."

Elsa smiled politely in return. "Of course, Chief Stoick. I hope we can come to some sort of agreement. It's been a long time since there have been any good alliances between those of you who live in the Archipelago and any country near here."

"Aye! I'm sure you'll be very interested in what we wish to propose to you, your majesty!"

Elsa started to nod, but that was when Anna suddenly gasped as though she had just thought of something, and within seconds, the second-born sister was marching forward to stand right in Stoick and Hiccup's confused faces, her generally smiling face looking very cross and angry as she pointed a finger directly at the Viking heir.

"Hold it! Does this alliance you're proposing involve some type of marriage agreement with _you?!_ Because if it does, I can assure you that Elsa and I are not interested! Elsa was just made queen! She's not planning to marry anytime soon, and she's not going to arrange a wedding for me either! I'm only fifteen-years-old and she's promised me that I'll be given the opportunity to find true love instead of being married off for diplomatic reasons!"

There was a long pause after that as everyone stared at the strawberry-blonde-haired girl, but when everyone finally came to grips with what it was that Anna had just said, reactions greatly contrasted.

Elsa, King Frederic, and Queen Arianna looked downright mortified at Anna's bluntness.

Rapunzel and Fishlegs looked dumbstruck.

Eugene, Gobber, Snotlout, and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut all started laughing so hard, tears leaked out from the corners of their eyes.

Stoick looked mainly amused.

Astrid was fuming.

And Hiccup?

Hiccup turned so red in the face, it was impossible to tell where his red tunic ended and his face began.

"M-Marriage agreement?! With… With _me?!"_ the heir gasped, sounding completely baffled by Anna's assumption. "I… I… I…"

"If you think Hiccup is going to marry either you or your sister, Princess Anna, you've got another thing coming!" snapped Astrid suddenly, shoving her way to the front of the group and thrusting the embarrassed boy behind her as she glared at the younger girl. "I don't care if you are royalty or not! I'll challenge you to a duel to the death before that happens, your highness!"

Elsa, Frederic, Arianna, and Rapunzel were looking on nervously at this confrontation, while Eugene still looked like he was trying to suppress his laughter, but Anna was not the slightest bit intimidated by the older lady warrior. She simply put on her most furious, authoritative princess face as she glared at the shield maiden.

"And just who are you to issue such a threat against me, the princess of Arendelle?" she demanded.

Astrid glared daggers at the girl in return. "I'm Astrid Hofferson of the loyal Hofferson clan on Berk! Hiccup's _girlfriend!"_ she growled furiously.

This revelation made Anna go very quiet. She had certainly misjudged this situation, and she couldn't even blame Astrid for being mad either. Anna could only imagine that she would be mad too if some girl that she had never met before started talking about marrying her boyfriend – if she had one, that is.

"Oh, gosh! I… Oh!"

"Anna and I give you our most sincere and heartfelt apologies, Lady Astrid, Chief Stoick, Prince Hiccup!" Elsa quickly cut in. Then she looked pointedly at her headstrong younger sister, raising a brow as she did so. "Right, Anna?"

"Y-Yes! Yes, of course! I am _so_ sorry!"

Astrid huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest, but otherwise nodded in acceptance of the apology. Stoick however just let out a hearty guffaw.

"Well, I'll admit I hadn't been expecting either of you ladies to come to that conclusion, Princess Anna, but I assure you both that a marriage pact was not what we wished to offer either of you. Isn't that right, Hiccup?"

Hiccup didn't reply right away. He was so embarrassed by what Princess Anna had said, that his face was still flaming red and he was struggling to find the willpower to form words.

"Y-Yeah… You don't have to worry about that, y-your highness… Astrid and I are very happy together, thank you…! And again, _please_ don't call me Prince Hiccup. Just Hiccup is fine!"

"Bah! Typical Vikings! No form of manners whatsoever!"

The suddenness of this new voice took everyone aback, and they all quickly turned. The royals and nobles from the Scottish kingdom of Dunbroch had approached all of them near the dais while they had been talking, and the majority of the new arrivals were glaring daggers at the guests that hailed from the Barbaric Archipelago.

The moment that the visitors from Berk realized that there were Scotsmen standing before them, all of the Vikings, minus Hiccup, started glaring at the royal family of Dunbroch and the leaders and sons of the three supporting Scottish clans.

To say that every member of the two visiting parties, except apparently Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, hated each other would be a huge understatement.

Elsa was smart, though. She was well aware of the fact that Vikings and Scotsmen didn't get along very well. She had known the moment that she accepted Chief Stoick's request to come to her coronation so that he and his people could discuss a possible trading alliance, when the royals and nobles from the country of Dunbroch had already been invited, that things could get ugly between the representatives of the two countries very fast. That was why she pointedly stepped forward so that she stood in between both sides as she discretely motioned for Anna to join her in greeting the Scottish monarchs.

"King Fergus, Queen Elinor," she said kindly as she dipped down into a respectable curtsy. "I am very glad both of you and your family could come, as well as some of the nobles from the Highlands in your kingdom!"

"It's an honor to have you here in Arendelle, your majesties," Anna added, doing her best to smile, but it was clear from the way that the pupils of her eyes were darting back and forth between the visitors of Dunbroch and the Berkian guests that she was very nervous as to what might happen next.

"Aye, aye. Good to be here as well," said King Fergus to Elsa and Anna, but his attention was fixed firmly on the Vikings, Stoick in particular, as a deep scowl spread across his features.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, it's wonderful to see you both again after so long. Fergus and I haven't visited Arendelle since your parents decided to close the gates," said Queen Elinor politely. Unlike her husband, the queen of Dunbroch was not the slightest bit put off by the Viking party less than three feet away from her and her family. If anything, the regal Scottish queen was seemingly acting as though the Vikings were beneath her notice by letting her eyes sweep right past all of them as she instead greeted the new queen and second-born princess of Arendelle before turning to smile kindly at the Coronan royals. "Ah, King Frederic! Queen Arianna! How lovely to see you again! And Princess Rapunzel! You look as beautiful as ever! We heard about your recent engagement not too long ago. Is this your intended?"

"Uh, yes! Yes, it is, Queen Elinor," Rapunzel apprehensively replied – she, Eugene, and her parents also sensing the tension in the air now that the Vikings and the Scotts were face-to-face. "This is Eugene Fitzherbert."

"We met before. Briefly," Eugene supplied, doing his best to break the ice between the enemy countries. "I was at Rapunzel's introduction to high society a few years ago back in Corona. I was the one who returned the Lost Princess to her rightful throne."

"Oh, of course! I am sincerely sorry for forgetting! That was highly inconsiderate of me!"

"It's fine, your majesty."

"For a former thief, you're politer than I imagined you to be. I heard that the notorious Flynn Rider was supposed to be a cocky womanizer that could charm all the ladies."

Heads turned towards the lord's sons. Ryan Macintosh was haughtily smirking as he appraised the future prince of Corona. Rather than being disgusted by Eugene's former life, the heir to the Macintosh clan appeared to be rather impressed with the notion of how Eugene had lived before he found and fell in love with the Lost Princess of Corona, and his eyes were silently petitioning the dark-haired man to verify whether or not the stories he had heard about the infamous thief were true or not.

At the mention of his thievery alias, Eugene smirked. "Well, I won't deny that I knew how to use a good old-fashioned smolder to get all the girls way back when…"

Ryan Macintosh grinned eagerly. "And that really worked?"

"Well, on all but _one_ that is. 'Course, if it had, I wouldn't exactly be standing here today."

"Eugene!" Rapunzel said in a pointed warning tone. "I wouldn't recommend teaching the Scottish lord's sons any of your bad habits! One arrogant prince is already one too many!"

"Oh, you have no idea how right you are, Princess Rapunzel. Despite what you think, your future husband is not the most arrogant noble here. You want to see true arrogance? Be alone with Ryan here for five minutes! You'll need a sharp sword to keep him at bay!"

All heads turned to look over at the royal crown princess of Dunbroch, but Princess Merida did not make eye contact with any set of curious eyes. She just fiddled with the wimple still covering her scalp as she glared venomously at her suitor from the Macintosh clan, who was sending her flirtatious looks out of the corner of his eye.

"Why, Princess Merida! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you don't like me!"

"Ryan, I _tolerate_ you and your arrogance because you and your father are friends of my mother and father. If you think for one second that I am going to pick you for a husband one day, you are very much mistaken!"

"Merida! Mind your manners!"

"Mum! I am _not_ the one who is disgracing our home and family by asking how to charm those of the opposite gender! Ryan is!"

"I am only trying to learn tips on how to further woo you, your highness! After all, the Macintosh clan is where you belong!"

"I have the right to choose my husband, Ryan! The last Highland Games earned me that privilege!"

"Aye, aye… But I think we can all agree that I am the best choice between myself, Alan, and Wee."

"Ah hiv tae agree wi the princess on this ae, Ryan. Ye re bein gye rude."

"Aye, what Alan said…! Uh, what did he say exactly?"

The Dunbroch king and the three clan lords looked mainly amused by the entire exchange between the princess and the three heirs, while the queen just sighed exasperatedly, but the other royals just blinked in bewilderment at what they just witnessed. Not only were the three prospective heirs to the three high bloodline clans in the Highlands quite unusual, but it also seemed as though the Dunbroch princess was not like other typical female royalty. Princess Merida seemed to have no problem whatsoever with becoming short-tempered and telling people exactly what she thought.

Queen Elinor then noticed everyone's stares, and she quickly plastered her kind smile back on her face. "Oh, do please forgive us, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna. Fergus and I have neglected to introduce our family and friends. Allow us to present the three noble clan lords from the Highlands and their sons. Lord Malcom Macintosh and his son, Ryan."

"Your majesty, this is an honor!"

"Very glad to be here, your majesty!"

"Lord Duncan MacGuffin and his eldest son, Alan."

"Happy to make your acquaintance, Queen Elsa."

"It's… It's nice tae meet ye, yer majesty…"

"And Lord Ewan Dingwall and his only son, Wee."

"Your majesty, many thanks for inviting us!"

"Aye, thank you for the invites."

Elsa and Anna both smiled as they dipped down in polite curtsies.

"It is good to meet all of you as well."

"Thank you for coming to my sister's coronation!"

"And finally," Queen Elinor went on, directing all eyes back to her. "I'd like to introduce you to our children. This is our daughter, Merida. The crown princess of Dunbroch."

Merida might be a tomboy and didn't usually care too much for old traditions, but she did know her manners in addressing other members of royalty. "Your majesty, your highness," she said with a quick curtsy.

"Thank you for coming, your highness."

"It's nice to meet you, Princess Merida!"

"And these are— Oh! Fergus, where are the boys?!"

"Ah, they must have snuck away while we were talking! Wee devils they are, Elinor! Wee devils!"

"You have sons?"

"Oh, yes, Queen Elsa. Triplet princes. Hamish, Hubert, and Harris. They're around somewhere, I'm sure…"

"Most likely sneaking sweets off the refreshment stand," Merida added with a slight eye roll.

"They're still small children," Elinor explained. "I had wished to present them to you along with everyone else. I apologize on their behalf, your majesty. They're old enough to know better than to brush aside royal protocol."

Elsa merely smiled as she waved her hand. "It's quite all right, Queen Elinor. Children are children. They're only young once. I imagine that they probably met some of the servant children that are helping here at the party and are playing. The children here in the castle haven't had new playmates in a long time. They're most likely making friends with one another."

"Well, hopefully our sons won't teach any of them their bad habits. They have a tendency for causing mischief wherever they go."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry too much about them, your majesty. They're only boys. It's not like they're the ones who invade our lands on a daily basis and burn down villages of innocent people…"

Ewan Dingwall said all this rather nonchalantly, but no one missed how he was glaring at the visiting party of Vikings out of the corner of his eye as he did so. The royals from Arendelle and Corona grew uncomfortably quiet at that, but Lord Dingwall's words sparked old angers forth, and again, everyone in the Scottish and Viking representative parties except Hiccup started glaring at each other.

The said Viking heir nervously stepped forward and pointedly cleared his throat. He wanted to ease the tension between his people and the Dunbroch court before anything bad happened.

"Hey, now… Let's not get too wound up, okay?" he desperately pleaded. "It's… It's a party! Let's try to get along!"

"Get along? How 'bout you get along with my bow and arrows, Viking Prince?!" Merida spat, stomping her way from her place between her parents to get right up in Hiccup's face. "If we weren't at a coronation for my country's ally, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot an arrow between your eyes!"

Hiccup was visibly taken aback. "I'm… I'm not a prince…" he said yet again, not really sure what else to say in this situation.

Thankfully, he was spared the duty of finding words to fill the awkwardness when Astrid and the rest of his friends from Berk suddenly gathered around him with cold glares on their faces.

"You got a problem with our future chief, _your highness?!"_ Astrid spat.

Merida scowled back at all of them, and to the everlasting credit of each of her three suitors, they did too as they stood readily beside her. While Merida had absolutely no intention of ever falling in love with any of them one day, she did secretly admit to herself that it was nice of them to stand beside her right now as she gave these barbaric savages a piece of her mind.

"Yes, as a matter of fact! I have a problem with anyone who's part of a culture that constantly plunders and raids innocent people in my country just to loot the villages because they're took thickheaded to know how to barter and trade for goods!"

This time, even Hiccup was peeved by that assumption, but unlike his hot-tempered girlfriend and his circle of friends, he still managed to hold his tongue.

"Excuse me?! We make trades all the time!" Snotlout shot back.

"Yeah! Trader Johann comes by our island all the time!"

"We barter and trade for stuff off his boat!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut smirked triumphantly after saying this, looking quite full of themselves for proving the Scottish princess wrong, but to the surprise of Merida, Ryan, and Wee, Alan MacGuffin – shy and quiet Alan MacGuffin – was anything but impressed.

"Ye trade wi anely ae gadgie? Maun be the anely gadgie in the wardle fa is nae feart I' bein' slaughtered bi savage pigs."

Like everyone else, Hiccup and the group had no idea what it was Alan said, but they understood plainly those last few words.

"Say that again, you ugly brute!" Astrid snapped, even raising a fist as she took a furious step forward.

"I don't know what exactly it was Alan said, but I'm with him!" Ryan snapped. "Vikings are nothing but scum! Right, Wee?"

Despite Wee's tendency to tune out of reality nine times out of ten, he was quite in tune with reality at this exact moment as he nodded, a scowl of his own on his generally aloof face.

"Aye, we see enough of Vikings on a daily basis back home when we have to drive you away from our shores! Don't know why you had to follow us all the way here to another country just to antagonize us…"

"Hey now, that's really not fair," Fishlegs hesitantly spoke up. "Our tribe hasn't really ventured away from Berk in several generations. We've been too busy dealing with the dragon attacks to attack other colonies."

Hiccup nodded appreciatively to his friend. "Fishlegs is right. We've never once been to Dunbroch. We have no quarrel with you."

Merida scoffed. "Speak for yourself, Viking Prince."

"I'm not—"

"You're not a prince! Aye, aye! I know! I'll call you whatever I please! And we Scotts would've done a thousand times better if we were in your shoes!"

"P-Pardon?"

"You Vikings claim to slay dragons, but in over three hundred years, you've never managed to kill the dragons in the so-called dragon nest?! We in Dunbroch would've slayed them all ages ago should we be the ones that lived on that island of yours! My father and I would've killed at least a hundred of them ourselves!"

Despite his wife's horror at how their daughter was starting a full-blown argument with the Viking visitors, Fergus beamed with pride at his little warrior princess.

"Aye! It doesn't matter how many strong fighters you have on Berk! My daughter is the very best! She could take down a dragon no problem! And I could easily kill them all with my bare hands! We faced the demon bear Mor'du! We can take on any savage beast!"

Hiccup and the others all initially looked rather uncomfortable at the very idea of killing dragons – they had long since befriended and trained dragons to ride now – but at the mention of Mor'du, their expressions quickly turned to puzzlement.

"The demon bear Mor'du? What are you talking about, your majesty?" Hiccup asked.

It escaped the notice of every Scotsmen other than Queen Elinor that Hiccup was the only one there who was still addressing all of them with respect, and King Fergus's eyes twinkled at the mention of the great battle against the monstrous creature that, until last year, had been the terror of the Highlands.

"Mor'du was the biggest bear you would have ever seen! His hide littered with the weapons of fallen warriors! His face scarred with one dead eye! I lost my leg fighting that demon!"

He gestured proudly to his wooden peg leg for everyone to look at. While the rest of the members of the royalty looked on awkwardly, all the Scottish visitors apart from Queen Elinor beamed with pride at the legendary tale of how their great king valiantly fought the monstrous creature long ago when Merida, Ryan, Alan, and Wee were all very small children.

The Vikings on the other hand were anything but impressed.

"You lost your leg fighting a bear alongside your daughter? And she comes out of the fight without so much as a scar? Not much of a fighter then!"

"Excuse me?!" Merida snipped, her temper flaring.

"My son went charging into battle like a true Viking! And he has the mark to prove it!"

Hiccup's face flared bright red with mortification. "Dad, please—"

"Go on, son! Show them all your leg!"

Hiccup looked like he wished as though he wanted a hole to magically appear and swallow him whole to save him from being stared at by everyone, but he simply sighed and did as Stoick asked by lifting the hem of his left pants leg just past his ankle. Everyone there stared when they saw the metallic prosthetic with a highly-complicated gear system built into it.

"Oh, my!" Anna exclaimed, clearly taken aback by the sight of it.

Elsa and their relatives from Corona all fought the urge to keep staring and seeming rude for gawking at the Berkian heir's prosthesis. All except Eugene, that is. He had no qualms whatsoever with bending down a bit to get a better look at the spring system that allowed for the foot pedal to double as a stirrup for flying with his favorite Night Fury. Not that Eugene or anyone else there other than the Vikings knew that.

"That's a highly complex prosthetic limb you got there, Viking Boy. Who on earth made it for you?" the former thief asked in astonishment.

Hiccup's face only grew redder and redder with each passing second. "Well… Gobber here technically made it for me since I was kind of out of it for a couple weeks after… well, I lost it… But he made it from my notes…"

"Notes?" King Frederic pressed, sounding intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"Hiccup is my apprentice in our village. We're blacksmiths!" Gobber proclaimed. "Hiccup here is nothing short of a genius when it comes to the forge! He invents great things!"

"What types of things?" Queen Arianna questioned.

Hiccup's cheeks were a permanent shade of pink. He really was too modest for his own good. "My leg for one, and I invented a special sword that I personally use. As for the other stuff… that I'll tell you tomorrow. It's… It's kind of involved with the trade agreement we wish to make with you, Queen Elsa."

"Ah, of course," Elsa said with a smile. "I look forward to hearing all about it tomorrow then."

"But how exactly did you lose your leg in the first place?" Merida demanded. "You probably had it eaten by a dragon!"

Hiccup's face turned – if possible – even redder in embarrassment, but Stoick didn't even take notice of his only son's discomfort as he proudly gestured to his boy.

"You're half right, your highness. But Hiccup didn't take down any dragon! He ended the war between our people and dragons! He took down a dragon the size of a mountain!"

King Fergus rolled his eyes. "Sure, he did. Sure, he did… Look at him! He's a walking fishbone!"

Hiccup snapped out of his embarrassment long enough to look miffed at that. "Thank you for summing that up…" he grumbled.

Merida stuck up her nose at his wit. "It's completely ridiculous! There's no dragon alive that's as big as a mountain!"

"Well not anymore there isn't! But it's true! Hiccup took down the Red Death all on his own!" Astrid insisted.

"I wasn't completely on my own, Astrid. The rest of you did help me out in the beginning… and Toothless was with me after that!"

Ryan Macintosh snorted. "Toothless? What the hell kind of a Viking name is Toothless? He sounds like a total wimp!"

This time, Hiccup's face fixed into a cold glare. "First of all, hell is not a place. It's a person! Hel is her name! Secondly, Toothless happens to be my very best friend in the whole world. Don't insult him!"

"Oh, please! I bet I could take this guy no sweat! Where is he?! I'll pummel with one hand tied behind my back!"

All the Viking teens did their best to hide their snickers of amusement. The idea of Ryan Macintosh engaged in a one-on-one fight with the Night Fury was something that they would all pay all their gold coin savings to see.

But not Hiccup. No, Toothless was his very best friend. Even though Ryan was a conceited jerk, Hiccup would not be the one to give the Macintosh heir the idea that he was welcome to fight his dragon companion.

"No. No way. You're not fighting my buddy."

"Why not? A wimp is a wimp! I'll show you all just what it means when we Scotsmen fight against Vikings!"

Hiccup opened his mouth to protest some more, but he was cut off by Elsa.

"Absolutely not. There will be no fighting whatsoever. Not in my kingdom, at least."

Everyone turned to look at her. She had been named the new queen of Arendelle only a few hours ago, but she had already mastered the same 'authoritative queenly' look that Queen Elinor had used before to force everyone into submissive silence.

"King Fergus, Chief Stoick," Elsa went on, drawing both leader's eyes to her as she spoke pointedly. "Both of you are the leaders of your people. King Fergus? Arendelle has always been a good and loyal ally to you in the past, so I expect you would show my country the same respect by not allowing any of your people to instigate a fight over the course of your visit. Chief Stoick? You and your people wish to create a trade alliance with Arendelle do you not? I am willing to listen to your proposal for such an event tomorrow after all the festivities are over, but only under the condition that you put aside your differences with those from Dunbroch and do not quarrel with them. Both of your countries are not on good terms with one another. I understand that. But I would expect both of you to at least put aside your differences for a short time over the course of this visit. Remember, you and your people are all guests in my country, King Fergus, Chief Stoick. If you respect both myself and my sister – if you respect our late parents – you would respect this order."

There was a long pause at that, but then Fergus and Stoick nodded in acquiesce.

"Aye, you're right, Queen Elsa."

"Apologies, your majesty."

"We are sincerely sorry for acting improperly, Queen Elsa," Elinor quickly spoke up. "That was undoubtedly rude of us, and you are right. This is not the time nor the place to bring up old quarrels. On behalf of the royal family, I promise that there shall be no further troubles from us during the duration of our visit."

Elsa smiled. "Thank you, Queen Elinor. I appreciate the oath." Then Elsa turned to gaze at Stoick. "Do you promise on behalf of your people as well, Stoick the Vast?"

Stoick nodded with a carefully solemn expression. "Yes, you have my promise," he swore.

"Good. Thank you for your cooperation."

"I propose a toast to our temporary truce," Elinor suggested. "You there! Young man? We'd like some wine please."

Everyone turned as they noticed a waiter very slowly approach them while carrying a tray with several glasses of wine, but Elsa and Anna's eyes widened when they saw just who it was Queen Elinor had waved over.

"Oh, Jack! Good to see you!" Elsa greeted kindly when Jack came to a halt before all of them.

"Are you enjoying the party, Jack? I know you're technically the staff, but it's still quite something, huh?" Anna said cheerfully.

Jack kept his face in a carefully neutral expression as he nodded. "Yes, it's all very different, Princess Anna," he replied. Then he turned so he could respectfully bow to all the royals and nobles that were watching him. "Your majesties, your highnesses, my lords and ladies…" he said dutifully.

"Hey, I remember you!" said Lord MacGuffin suddenly. "You're the brother of the little lass that was so determined to clean up the mess that Dingwall made earlier!"

"Hey! I didn't spill that wine! That was Macintosh!"

"I only had one glass of wine all evening! And I didn't spill a drop!"

"Yes, yes, that was me earlier. Again, I apologize if Emma was bothering any of you."

"It's quite alright… Jack, was it?"

"Jackson Overland, my lord. But yes, Jack for short."

"Ah, yes! Anyway, pass the drinks around, lad! Let's all wet our lips!"

Jack didn't dare change his monotone facial expression as he held out his silver tray, allowing everyone to reach forward and take a glass of the delicious red wine. Since there were so many people that wanted the drinks, Jack actually had to excuse himself for a moment to go and fetch more before everyone had a glass in hand

"So your name is Jack, then?" Rapunzel asked him sweetly when he returned, making Jack very tense when he realized that he was uninvitedly being asked to stay and chat with all of them for at least a few more minutes. "You seem much younger than most of the other staff I've seen around here. Have you worked here in the castle long?"

Jack forced his lips to turn upward in a pleasant smile as he nodded. "I was born here in the castle. I've worked here all my life."

"Diligent employee then, eh?" Gobber said with a hearty chuckle. "We don't have servants back on Berk, but you gotta respect the worker class none the less! I take it you must be an expert about everything that goes on here in the castle!"

Jack felt his hands grow frosty cold inside his gloves as his nerves spiked, and he quickly shook his head. "N-No, sir. I'm no expert about anything. I just… I just try to do my jobs well as quickly and quietly as possible. Now, if you would all please excuse me, I—"

"Jobs? You have more than one job here in the castle?" Queen Arianna asked. "You're not just one of the many butlers that have been employed?"

"Jack works two jobs, Aunt Arianna," Elsa clarified happily. "He does do work around the castle as a butler, but he also helps out in the stables. He doubles as a shepherd."

"You work out in the stables? You'll see my horse then!" Merida exclaimed.

"Uh… well, I—"

"He's the big black Shire horse. I personally am the one to care for him, so you don't have to worry about feeding and brushing him while we're here. I'll come down to attend to him myself."

"Uh—"

"My family brought a horse, too!" Rapunzel chimed in. "His name is Maximus! He's the white one with the blonde mane! Maybe you'll see him on your next shift!"

"Just be sure to watch it on the apples," Eugene added with a smirk. "That horse will gobble any apple you have, even if you're not planning to give it to him. He'll wolf them all down before you can blink."

"Um, okay, but—"

"Argh! Now I wish I'd brought Stormfly! She would have been well taken care of in the stables here if everything goes well tomorrow!"

"Yeah! I should have brought Hookfang!"

"Barf would've loved it here!"

"No! Belch would've loved it more!"

"My little princess Meatlug surely misses me!"

Jack wasn't the only person there to blink at all the Viking teens. "Are… Are those the names of your horses back on Berk, my lords and ladies?" he questioned.

Hiccup chuckled. "Don't worry about addressing any of us by proper titles. Everyone's basically the same rank on Berk other than my dad. As for your question itself… not exactly. We Vikings choose to ride something far more interesting…"

"Oh…"

"Can't be any more amazing than my Angus!" Merida cut in, her blue eyes flashing challengingly at the Viking heir. "He's the most loyal horse there is!"

"I have to disagree with you on that, Princess Merida," Rapunzel said suddenly. "If you were to ever meet Maximus, you would undoubtedly agree with me! He works with the Captain of the Guard back in Corona! He is the smartest and bravest horse there ever was!"

The Viking kids all scoffed.

"Oh, please! No animal out there is smarter than our pets!" Snotlout proclaimed. "I dare both of you princesses to show your horses to us! Our dr— Er… _steeds_ are at least a thousand times better than your stupid horses!"

"Snotlout! Shut up!" Hiccup hissed. His cousin had nearly spoiled their secret before they could reveal it privately to Queen Elsa tomorrow at the meeting. The Viking inventor needed him to shut his mouth before he could accidentally reveal anything else.

"Now, now! Like I said before, we mustn't quarrel amongst ourselves," Elsa said gently. "I am sure you all have faithful animal friends. Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

Anna grinned at her elder sister's words. "Yeah, stop fighting! It's a party! Let's all try and get along!"

Jack felt that this was the perfect time to disappear. He didn't want to spend too much time around people. Primarily Elsa and the rest of the royalty. He had enough on his plate right now between keeping calm while in this highly-crowded setting, thinking about his impending resignation tomorrow, and trying to ignore the guilt eating away at him from how he had been forced to push Emma away again earlier. He didn't want to put the beautiful girl that he had feelings for and the rest of the royals and nobles from the other nearby prominent kingdoms in danger from his stupid powers. He could feel his hands growing colder inside his gloves. The sooner he disappeared back into the background again, the better.

He turned away to vanish back into the crowd, but Elsa noticed his actions. "Oh, you don't have to go, Jack. You're more than welcome to stay," she insisted. "I have barely spoken to you since this morning, and this is the first time all day that Anna's seen you."

Anna beamed from ear to ear. "Yeah! You can spare a few minutes before going back to your staff duties, right? Why must you leave so soon?"

Jack tensed back up again. What could he say that would allow him to leave while not offending his two old friends? How could he excuse himself from this terrible situation without seeming rude?

To put matters simply, the problem took care of itself when a great smashing sound of breaking china resounded throughout the entire Great Hall, followed swiftly by several childish gasps of horror and disbelief.

Jack and just about everyone else inside the magnificent ballroom whipped around to see what happened. Near the end of the refreshment table were the three princes of Dunbroch and all the servant children, including Jack's little sister Emma. And in front of them was the smashed remains of what was once a beautiful three-layer chocolate cake and the shattered pieces of the decadent rosemaling china plate that it had been on while on top of the buffet table.

Jack's eyes widened in alarm when he saw the mess. "Emma…!" he said in disbelief to himself under his breath. It took him several seconds to absorb what had just happened, but then he forced himself to become emotionless once again and keep his face carefully blank before he whirled back around to hastily bow to Elsa, Anna, and the rest of the visiting royals and nobles.

" _That_ would be the reason why, your majesty, your highness! Please, excuse me!"

And before anyone could say anything at all, the dark-haired servant boy kept his grip tight around his now empty silver tray and his other gloved hand clenched up into a fist as he spun back around and hurried as best as he could through the crowd of startled partygoers without daring to accidentally bump into any of them as he made his way to where all the children were staring at the mess they had unintentionally made with the chocolate cake.

Elsa and Anna both blinked when they saw him leave, but then they regained their composure. Whether they liked it or not, Jack avoiding them this time was not without reason. He had to take care of the huge mess, and as the hosts of the ball, they were obligated to go and find out what had happened.

With wordless nods to one another, the two sisters quickly curtsied politely to their guests.

"Please excuse us, everyone," said Elsa. "My sister and I must go and attend to this accident."

"Feel free to keep chatting amongst yourselves! Just please don't fight anymore!" Anna said with an awkward chuckle.

"Could Eugene and I come along?" Rapunzel requested. "I feel as though I've barely spent any time with either of you! I've wanted to meet both of you for the past few years now!"

"Wait, why do I have to come along?" Eugene asked, sounding rather annoyed.

Rapunzel raised a brow at her fiancé as a sneaky smirk spread across her lips. "Well, I was expecting to dance with you after all this, but if you would rather I go and fetch my favorite frying pan after the party—"

"We'll dance after we chat some more with your cousins! I promise!"

"I might as well come, too," said Merida, grumbling a bit as she assessed the situation with the tipped over cake. "See those wee red-haired boys? Those three devils are my brothers. They're most likely the ones who convinced those other kids that they should play near the table and toppled the cake over. Someone has to yell at them."

"You may accompany them, Merida, but only if you allow Ryan, Alan, and Wee to escort you," Elinor compromised.

Merida's face instantly looked horrorstruck, but Ryan's face broke out into an eager smile, Alan's became bright red due to his natural shyness, and Wee just blinked several times as he struggled to process this new information.

"Mum! Why?!"

"Because you have yet to dance with any of your suitors. After you lead your brothers back here, I expect you to spend some time this evening getting to know Ryan, Alan, and Wee better."

"But… But..."

"We would be happy to escort your daughter, your majesty! Right, guys?"

"A-Aye, i' course…"

"Uh, aye?"

"That settles it, then."

"Hey, how about we all go check it out, too?" Tuffnut suddenly suggested to the other Viking teens. "This is the first form of destruction I've seen since we got here!"

"Destruction! Awesome!" his sister grinned.

"Hey, guys! We're guests in this country! Don't go making a scene here in the castle!" Hiccup warned the troublesome twins.

"Oh, calm down, Hiccup! We're just going to watch! It's not like we're going to knock the whole table over!" Snotlout said exasperatedly.

"I wouldn't mind getting a snack anyway," Fishlegs shrugged.

"It'll be fun, Hiccup! I haven't seen any kids since Gustav begged us to take him along on this trip just for the ride back at the island docks," Astrid added.

Hiccup still looked wary about getting involved in a servant problem in a foreign castle, but after hearing his friends pleading to come along and watch the hullabaloo, he reluctantly nodded.

"All right…"

"Awesome!"

Elsa smiled. It was nice to see that the younger generation of high born society was getting along, even if the old generation didn't seem to be doing so. Excluding her aunt and uncle of course.

"We'll all be back shortly, your majesties," she said politely to the two kings and queens, the Viking chief and his second-in-command, and the noble lords from Dunbroch. "We'll chat more then."

"Of course, go right ahead," Arianna said kindly.

Elsa nodded appreciatively to her aunt, and then led all the others toward the mishap at the refreshment table.

* * *

"Oh, no…"

"Whoops!"

"That… didn't exactly go the way we planned…"

 _Smack!_

 _Smack!_

 _Smack!_

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

"You just punched royalty! We're telling our Mum and Dad!"

"You three deserve it! Your harebrained plan knocked the cake over! Now the rest of us are going to get in trouble!"

"Yeah!"

"You idiots!"

"We're all going to —"

"—be grounded for months!"

"Queen Elsa and Princess Anna are going to be _so_ mad!"

"We'll never eat cake or chocolate again in our lives thanks to this!"

"Never eat cake! Never eat cake! Never eat cake!"

The young princes Hamish, Hubert, and Harris, for most likely the first time in their lives, cowered under the glares of their newfound Arendelle servant friends as they stood covered from head to toe in chocolate cake mixture and colorful buttercream frosting from the mess that the three of them had accidentally made when they unintentionally knocked over the enormous three-layer dessert. Whether they liked it or not, the triplets were forced to admit to themselves that in this instance, they had gone too far with their usual schemes to get sweets. Emma, Jamie and his kid sister Sophie, Caleb and Claude, Pippa, Monty, and Cupcake were right to be mad at them. After all, none of them had had the great idea to stand up on each other's shoulders so that they could try to get everyone else slices of the cake, but then proceeded to lose their balance and cause the luxurious cake to splatter all over all of them.

"Don't get so mad at us! We were just trying to help you guys!" Hamish growled.

"Yeah! You were all eying the cake! We were trying to get you guys some slices!" Harris insisted.

"But we're not supposed to eat any of that food!" Monty said furiously. "We're servant kids! If we touch any of that stuff, we get in trouble!"

"But thanks to you three, we're dead meat now because of what you did to the cake!" snapped Pippa.

Hubert stuck out his tongue at the castle kids. "So what? They'll forgive you guys! It's not like the new queen and the princess can individually fire any of you! They'll forget about the spill by the end of the night! That's how things are for us back at our castle in the Highlands…"

The middle princes' ignorant attitude for how things were for those who had to work for a living in life earned him a second smack upside the head. Courtesy of Emma.

"Ow! Stop that!"

"Shut your trap! You and your brothers are all spoiled rich boys! You have no idea what it's like to be part of a poor family!" she all but yelled at him.

Jamie nodded with furrowed brows and crossed arms. "Emma's right! You guys are gonna walk away from this with just a slap on the wrist even though it was all your fault! Meanwhile, all of us are going to be punished horribly by our parents just because we were hanging out with you three right now!"

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris all had matching scowls across their faces.

"Hey—"

"That's not fair—"

"Don't be like that—"

"Emma!"

All the kids spun around. Despite the fact that he was hurrying as fast as he could through the jam-packed crowd while doing his best not to bump into any of the guests, Jackson Overland still looked like the image of poise and etiquette as he carried his round but empty silver tray at a perfect ninety-degree angle as he approached the group of friends. His face was still as blank and monotone as ever, but it was impossible to miss the disapproval in his eyes as he gazed directly at his only younger sister.

Emma cringed under her big brother's stare when he finally reached them. "Hey, Jackie…" she said nervously.

"Emma?" Jack questioned, his many years' worth of keeping his emotions bottled up inside successfully hiding just how horrified and angry he was right then over the mess with the cake. "Do you mind explaining to me what happened?"

"Yes, Emma? Please, don't think we're mad, but could you please explain to Anna and me what happened here? What did you and the other children do that caused the cake to fall over?"

"And don't be afraid to admit that it was me wee brother's fault if it was! Knowing those devils, it wouldn't surprise me!"

As Emma and all the other kids blinked and peered around Jack to see who the two new voices were that spoke, Jack did his best to not panic as he turned around to see for himself. To his great misfortune, Elsa, Anna, and all the other younger generation of royalty from the other three prominent nations had followed him here.

Jack wanted to scream. If there were gods or spirits out there that watched over everything in the universe, why were they cursing him like this?! Why couldn't they magically tell Elsa and Anna to just leave him alone?! He didn't need to be around other people. He needed to stay apart from them. In particular the two of them and Emma. He didn't want to hurt his little sister, but he also didn't want to hurt his new queen and childhood friend, the royal princess. If he had been born without his stupid powers and Elsa wasn't royalty, he probably wouldn't hesitate at trying to court her. And Anna? They weren't close friends anymore since he had to keep everyone in the world at arm's length away, but she was still his childhood friend. He didn't want to hurt any of them, and he didn't want to hurt any of the other princes, princesses, and highborn lords and ladies from Corona, Dunbroch, and Berk either.

No one was going to be hurt because of him.

Still though, he didn't dare to voice any of those thoughts out loud. He simply maintained the same usual stoic expression as he politely bowed before all of them, as did Emma and the rest of the kids; the only exceptions being the little Dunbroch princes. The triplet brothers just glared irritably up at their big sister, who glared back at them with just as much annoyance in her face.

"Don't tell them that!"

"Now they're going to dump all the blame on us!"

"You love to make us look bad, don't you, Miss-Merry-Must-Marry?!"

Everyone else blinked when they heard the nickname, but Merida's glare only grew twice as furious.

"How many times must I tell you, Harris?! Do not call me 'Miss-Merry-Must-Marry!' It's insulting!"

"No, no! Please, little prince! Tell me about this nickname! Are you hoping that your sister will marry _me,_ perhaps?" Ryan teased.

Merida shot her Macintosh suitor a glare, but her little brothers all smirked triumphantly.

"I sure am, Lord Ryan! I'm on your side! But Hamish and Hubert disagree with me!"

"Merida should choose Lord Wee! He _did_ technically win her hand back at the last Highland Games! She should stop breaking tradition and honor the fact that Lord Wee earned the right to be her husband!"

"No way! Big Sis is awesome for being one of a kind! When she chooses, she should choose Lord Alan! He's fought off the Vikings before! He'll always protect her, especially right now! That big stupid dark-haired Viking guy is giving her the icky googly eyes!"

Cue the blinks.

Everyone's attention was directed to Snotlout, whose face drained of all color when he saw the way that the Dunbroch princess's rage immediately snapped toward him.

"Hey now! I—"

"You've been sizing me up all night?!" she murderously growled.

"No way! I've just been standing around! I haven't been looking at you!"

"L-Let's not start a fight here, okay?" Hiccup said quickly, sidestepping his way in between his idiotic cousin and the Scottish princess. "We're getting off topic, anyway! Didn't we all come over to see what the mess was with the cake?"

"There's no need to worry about it. I'll clean it all up," Jack quickly cut in. "And I'll pay for the broken plates, too."

"Oh, Jack! That's not necessary!" Elsa said with surprise. "It was just an accident!"

"Yeah, don't worry about that, Jack!" Anna agreed, actually laughing a bit at the thought of having Jack pay for the broken plate and the huge cake mess. "Elsa and I don't mind! It's just a little spill!"

Rapunzel smiled. "You're both so kind, Elsa, Anna," she said. "I'm happy to be your cousin."

"Aw! Thanks, Rapunzel!"

"You're the kind one!"

"But Emma was still involved in the spill," Jack argued, bringing all eyes back to him. "I'm obligated as her big brother to pay for the accident."

"But I didn't make this mess, and neither did any of my servant friends!" Emma suddenly snapped. Then she thrusted her index finger in the direction of Hamish, Hubert, and Harris. "They did!"

All heads turned to look at the three Dunbroch princes, but Hamish, Hubert, and Harris didn't meet their gazes. They were too busy scowling at Emma.

"Tattletale!"

"We didn't mean to knock it over!"

"We were just trying to get cake for you and the others!"

The triplet's whining was cut off when their older sister gave them each a small smack upside the head.

"Ouch!"

"Stop that!"

"Miss-Merry-Must-Marry, that hurt!"

Their antics earned them an amused smirk from Eugene. "You three are going to make excellent playboy princes one day. I can tell!" he quipped.

Merida spun around, ready to deck Eugene in the nose for saying such a thing to her little brothers, but she was beaten to the punch by Rapunzel yanking him by the ear once again.

"Ow! Hey! Blondie!"

"That's enough out of you, Eugene! I won't have you corrupting innocent young boys and turning them into mini Flynn Riders! Are we clear?"

"Ow! Yes, Blondie! Yes! We're clear! We're clear!"

A satisfied smirk spread across the Coronan princess's lips as she released her fiancé's ear. "Good. I hope I won't have to tug on your ear again this evening."

Her actions caused both Astrid and Ruffnut to look at her with admiration. "Good for you, your highness. Don't let that fiancé of yours act like an ass whenever he wants to. Call him out on it when he does!" said Astrid.

"Yeah! There aren't many men out there who are dumber than my stupid twin brother, but your guy seems to have an ego that tops his! You're awesome to keep him in line like that!"

"Hey! I'm not stupid, Ruff!"

"Yes or no – did you once beat your head against a rock for a solid hour because you thought that you could split it in two just like Hiccup's dad did when he was our age?"

"I was just trying to prove my strength!"

"And I rest my case."

Jack wanted more than anything to just quietly turn around and fade away from everyone's minds while he cleaned up the huge mess that the kids had made, but just like everything else in his life, luck wasn't on his side. He soon realized that the somewhat chubbier Viking teen that had yet to speak up was looking right at him.

"So… Jack, was it? This is your little sister?" he asked.

Seriously, did the universe love it when he became overcome by his anxiety over his powers whenever he was forced to mingle with other people?

Of course, Jack didn't say this out loud though. He just forced his head to nod as he clenched his free hand into an even tighter fist and kept his grip firm around the edge of his tray.

"Yes. This is Emma, and these other kids are her friends. That's Jamie and his little sister Sophie, the twins Caleb and Claude, the boy with the glasses is Monty, the red-haired girl is Pippa, and the other one goes by Cupcake."

"Hi!"

"Hi! Hi! Hi!"

"It's very nice—"

"—to meet all of you!"

"I-It's an honor, your highnesses!"

"How do you do?"

"Cupcake's just a nickname, but don't go calling me by real name! I hate being called Gertie!"

Their introductions earned honest laughs from everyone except Jack. They were all good kids, no doubt about it.

"You all seem to be much nicer than my wee devils for brothers. Are any of you interested in being my replacement siblings? You'll get to be royalty!" Merida joked.

The triplets shot her matching scowls as they stuck out their tongues, but their usual sibling quarrel with their big sister was put on hold when Emma's hand shot straight up in the air.

"Me! Me! I'll be your little sister!" she said enthusiastically.

People couldn't help but smile at that. That was adorable.

Merida herself was smiling as she bent down a little bit to look Emma right in the eye. "Ah! You wish to be a princess then? Because I assure you, being a princess is not nearly as wonderful as it sounds. You spend all day in princess lessons, and then you have duties, responsibilities, and expectations! Are you ready for that?"

Emma thought long and hard for a few moments, but then she happened to make eye contact with her still utterly silent older brother, and to everyone's surprise, Emma's face turned into a bitter scowl momentarily before she turned back to Merida again and earnestly nodded.

"If it meant that I could have a nicer older sibling who would play with me sometimes, let me into their bedroom just to talk, and actually be hugged and felt like I was appreciated for the first time in my life, sure. I don't care how hard being a princess is! I just want a big brother or sister who actually loves me!"

Nobody had been expecting that response.

One by one, every head there slowly turned to look at Jack, but Jack didn't dare to meet anyone's gaze. He just stared, frozen stiff with nervousness and anxiety, at the cake spill on the floor as he clutched the tray and his empty fist even tighter to prevent any of his magic from pouring out of him.

That wasn't fair.

Emma had no right to say that in front of everyone.

She had no idea what he went through on a daily basis just so she could stay alive.

Everything that he did was for her.

If only she could know how dearly loved she really was.

For the longest time after that, the ice user refused to speak. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to everyone after hearing his little sister say that. It was impossible for him to even form words, as every fiber of his being was struggling not to let his emotions go free or allow tears to form in his eyes, which would undoubtedly result in ice forming all around him. But finally, he let out a deep sigh of what sounded like exasperation to everyone else, even though in actuality, it was a sigh of complete heartbreak.

"I have to get this mess cleaned up. Please excuse me," he said quietly and with a small bow to everyone else.

Pausing only for a moment to set the empty tray down on the edge of the table, Jack kept his face carefully blank and neutral as he avoided all the dumbstruck stares and tried to make his way to one of the curtained off areas on the side of the ballroom to fetch a dustpan and broom.

But he was quickly stopped when a small pale hand started approaching him from out of nowhere, and Jack nearly yelped as he jumped back a few paces to avoid having the hand touch him. He didn't need anyone catching frostbite thanks to patting his shoulder.

"Steady there! I'm not trying to hurt you or anything!" claimed a surprised Wee Dingwall upon seeing Jack shy away from his hand. Even though he was a bit slow when it came to understanding things that happened around him, the heir to Clan Dingwall in the Highlands understood plainly enough what was happening right now, and just like everyone else, he was shocked that this young servant boy was just ignoring his little sister's words about how he was apparently a terrible older brother. How could he not care at all about what Emma had just said?

Jack fought the urge to gulp. God damn this noble for stopping him! Couldn't this idiot see that he needed to get the hell away from this emotional trap?

"Can I help you?" he asked guardedly.

Wee Dingwall dazedly blinked, but then he shook his head a bit to keep his thoughts in order before nodding in little Emma's direction. "I… I don't have any siblings back home, but I know that if I did, I would try talking to mine right now if I'd heard one of them say something like what your little sister just did," he explained.

Jack became very tense as the other nobles and royals nodded in agreement to what he had said, while Emma was pleadingly staring up at him with a sad face. It was so obvious that the little girl only said what she did to try and get a reaction out of him so he would talk to her. It was her childish way of thinking that Jack would be willing to have a conversation with her that wouldn't end in the same way their other one did a little while ago.

But Jack couldn't do this. He couldn't let his guard down. It was far too dangerous.

With as much respect as he could muster given his state of mind, he forced himself to speak again. "That… That really isn't any of your business, Lord Wee. It's not your concern."

All of them just kept gawking at him, not believing their own ears at what they were hearing, but Jack did his best to ignore them. In this instance, he was right. It wasn't any of their business what his relationship was with his little sister. Wee shouldn't have tried to bring it up.

He was about to turn away again, but then Elsa and Anna stepped forward, and they were both giving him pointed looks.

"I agree with him, Jack! How can you be so callous towards Emma?!" Anna demanded.

"Jack, she's the only family you have left, and that door swings both ways for Emma, too. Couldn't you try being nice to her for once?" Elsa pleaded.

Frost was coating the interior of his gloves. He needed to remove himself from this terrible situation.

"I need to take care of this mess, your majesty, your highness. I need to work extra hard tonight to get a good bonus with my wages for the last time tomorrow morning. I do not have time to worry about her right now."

He was about to bow and walk away, but that's when a small voice piped up again.

"The last time? What are you talking about, Big Brother?"

Jack froze up for a second – figuratively speaking, that is – and then he forced himself to look down at the small speaker. Emma was looking up at him with complete puzzlement on her face. Of course she looked confused. He hadn't told her about his plans to quit his work in the castle and go work with the ice harvesters up in the mountains. He hadn't told anyone. Even Elsa and Anna lost their annoyed looks, and they too were looking at him curiously, silently asking him to elaborate on what he just said.

He gulped, knowing full well that this wasn't going to end well, and then he willed himself to speak.

"I'm talking about the fact that tonight is our last night working here in the castle, Emma. I'm quitting tomorrow morning."

Emma gaped at him with her jaw slightly agape.

Elsa and Anna did a double take at that, not believing their own ears.

Everyone else just stayed very quiet as they did their best to not full-out stare at the brother and sister servants. This wasn't any of their business, and they were in no position to get involved.

"Jack… please tell me you're joking!" Elsa pleaded.

"No, I'm not, your majesty. I tried to tell you this morning when we saw each other, but I didn't get the chance. You'll have to find someone else to be your new head butler here in the castle."

"But Jack…! We've known you all our lives! You've always had a position here in the castle!" Anna cried out. "Why are you suddenly quitting?"

"I… I understand why you and Elsa wish to open up the castle gates, Princess Anna, but I can't stay here in the castle if you do," he stated. "I've already found another job working with ice harvesters up on the North Mountain. I'll turn in my resignation papers to you both first thing in the morning. With any luck, I'll have mine and Emma's things all packed up in the next few days and we'll be out of your hair soon enough."

"But… But Jackie! You didn't even ask me if I wanted to leave! What about Jamie and the rest of my friends here in the castle? And Queen Elsa and Princess Anna?! Don't you care about any of them?"

"Emma, what do you know about caring for other people?"

"Seems like she knows more than you do, if you ask me," mumbled Merida from out of the blue, looking more than disgusted at what she was witnessing just in the ten minutes that she had been acquainted with Jackson Overland.

Jack's eyes quickly flicked away from his saddened little sister's face to look pointedly at the hot-headed Scottish princess. "With all due respect, your highness, this is between myself and my sister. I would appreciate it if you didn't try to interfere."

"With all respects intended in return, Sir Jack, if you're arguing with her right in front of us, it technically makes it our business," Rapunzel said calmly.

"Princess Merida and Princess Rapunzel are right. You really shouldn't treat her that way," Hiccup agreed in a dry tone.

Emma smirked triumphantly after hearing that. Their words made her feel so happy. It looked as though Elsa, Anna, and all her friends were no longer the only ones to notice that there was definitely something wrong with how the only family member she had left in this world treated her. The crown princesses and the heir to the Viking island tribe were on her side when it came to the disagreements between herself and Jack, and judging by how all the other royals and nobles were nodding along to what the three of them had said, they agreed.

She deserved to have an older brother who loved and cared about her.

It wasn't a big thing to want in the grand scheme of things in this world.

"See, Jack? They all agree with me! And to answer your question, I sure know more about caring for other people than you do! All you do is shut people out!"

Jack lost control over his facial muscles after hearing that, and a small, barely noticeable frown appeared on his face for a few brief seconds. But as quickly as his frown came, it disappeared again behind Jack's usual monotone mask as he regained his control.

"My decision is final, Emma. With any luck, we'll be leaving the castle by the end of the week. Now, please excuse me."

He slowly tried to walk away from everyone once again, ignoring their stunned expressions of utter disbelief, but that was when Elsa stepped forward. The new queen didn't quite know what had brought on Jack's sudden, out of the blue decision to leave the castle, but she wasn't going to let him go without doing anything to try and convince him to stay! He might not be as close to her anymore, compared to how well they had gotten along back when they were children, but he was still one of her dearest friends! She had to convince him to stay! She would never be able to forgive herself if she failed to stop him from doing this…

"But… But Jack! Isn't there anything I can say that will make you—?"

"N-No, there isn't, Queen Elsa," Jack quickly interrupted. He couldn't handle talking to Elsa. Not Elsa. It was bad enough that Emma was distraught over his decision to quit, and that everyone else seemed to be on her side when it came to how he was forced to treat her just so she would stay safe. But Elsa's words? He was already fighting a losing battle in keeping his emotions in check. He couldn't afford to lose his cool completely just from hearing her.

"I… I really must go now and get a broom to clean up this mess. I hope you, Princess Anna, and all the other royals and nobles enjoy the rest of your evening."

This time, he didn't dare make eye contact with anyone as he walked away from the group. It didn't matter what any of them thought about him. No one there had any idea about how dangerous he was, or why this was for the best. Yes, Emma was heartbroken. And yes, Elsa and Anna were devastated. But this was the only way. No one could ever know about his powers, and the only way he could keep his ice and snow magic a secret was if he removed himself from the castle. There were already too many people around him poking their noses into his business. He couldn't handle the pressure of dealing with royals and nobles like this every day for the rest of his life.

He would die alone and without anyone ever liking him, but that was okay.

So long as no one got hurt again because of his powers, it would be worth it.

Never again would his powers cause someone to be injured.

He would reject family, friendship, and fun forever if that was the price of keeping people safe.

He was almost clear of the group, when Emma's distraught voice broke through the whirlpool of thoughts rushing through his mind.

"Big Brother, no! No, please! Wait!"

Jack had intended to just disregard her this time, as he couldn't afford to stay around her, Elsa, or anyone else in this group for even a second longer, but then something happened. Something he definitely hadn't been expecting.

Ignoring the startled looks from her friends, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, and all the other younger generation of foreign royals and nobles, Emma darted forward while dodging several pairs of hands that attempted to restrain her, seized hold of Jack's left hand, and attempted to tug him backwards so that he would stop trying to walk away.

Upon feeling her small hand insert itself inside his gloved one, Jack felt every fiber of his being go haywire. No! No, no, no! Emma was touching him! _Touching him!_ No! He had to get her to let go of him! Now! Before she got hurt!

"Emma! Let go!" he snapped. For once, he didn't care how he sounded as he addressed his sister. If being short and snappish got her to back away from him, so be it! She was in grave danger right now! He had to get her to let him go!

His shout drew some stares from a few nearby party guests, and they watched in obvious puzzlement at the minor fight between the brother and sister servants.

He tried jerking his hand away from her, but Emma's grip was strong, and she yanked back just as hard. Everyone just stared as they watched the two siblings struggle with one another, Jack trying to get away, with Emma trying to make him stay. Until finally, the two separated, albeit unintentionally.

Because Emma had accidentally tugged Jack's white glove off his hand.

The panic that Jack felt before just from Emma touching him was nothing compared to the ice-cold dread that was suddenly filling Jack's veins from his glove being off.

His glove was off his hand.

Off. His. Hand.

This wasn't like this morning when he was carrying the royal orb and scepter while walking down the aisle in the chapel. Both of his gloves were still technically in his pocket and therefore within easy access for to slip back on his hands as soon as he had put the pillow with the two coronation objects down on the altar. But right now? Now, one of them was in Emma's grasp, and because she was unaware of how crucial his gloves, and by extension even his boots, were in keeping his powers sealed away, she was clutching it tightly in her little fist and didn't appear to be showing any sign of giving it back to him.

"Emma! Give me my glove!" he cried out in nothing short of terror.

The volume in his tone made a number of the other guests look over curiously to see what was going on, but Jack paid them no mind. His attention was focused solely on Emma as he clenched up his exposed hand into a tight fist to prevent any ice or snow from forming and then tucking his arm close to his side before having his other, safely gloved hand reach out to try and snatch his empty white silk glove out of Emma's grasp. But Emma was quicker than he expected and pulled it away from him, keeping it clasped in between her palms as she formed her hands into a pleading locked position close to her little heart.

"Jackie, please! _Please!"_ she desperately begged. "Don't quit! I don't want to leave!"

Jack gulped. Why? Why was Emma doing this to him? Why was she choosing to do this _now,_ in the middle of the party?! There were too many people around!

"Emma, we'll talk about this later. Just give me my glove—"

But Emma's face scrunched up into a furious glare. "No! I won't give it back to you! Not until you say we won't leave!"

"Emma—"

"I won't leave the castle, Jack! You can't make me!"

Emma's stubbornness was unintentionally causing Jack to become more anxious by the second. He could literally sense that the fingers of his exposed hand were forming frosty patterns inside his tight fist thanks to this situation. It killed him to do this to her, but there was only one thing he could say right now that would get his sister to back off.

Even if it did break her heart.

"Then stay behind…"

Jaws dropped from everyone else in the group when they heard that. This boy really didn't have any form of compassion in him whatsoever. How could he say something like that?

Elsa and Anna couldn't believe their own ears as they stared at Jack for the longest time before exchanging bewildered looks of shock, but Jack didn't look at either of them.

His focus was solely on Emma.

Emma's eyes had lost their previous anger, and they were instead open wide in incredulity as she stared at him at a complete loss for words. But then her entire expression changed into that of pure sadness as her eyes began to glisten with unshed tears.

Jack wanted more than anything to just apologize to her, to tell Emma that he didn't mean it, but he didn't dare. Not only was telling her that if she didn't want to, she didn't have to leave the castle with him when he quit tomorrow the only way to get her to leave him alone right now, but it was actually better for her in the long run anyway. What was he thinking when he initially believed that he should take her with him to live constantly on the move and all but isolated from other children her age while he was employed with the mountaineer ice harvesters? That was no life for a child. He should know, considering he spent half his childhood and all his teen years in forced isolation. Granted, it was to keep others safe from him, but it was still no life for a kid.

Emma would have a good life here in the castle. She had friends her own age that she treasured, and Elsa and Anna would take good care of her. They had all but adopted her as their unofficial little sister. And she would be safe from him and his god forsaken ice magic.

She'd be better off without him.

With one final sigh, Jack folded his arms together across his chest, turned his back on Emma, Elsa, and everyone else in the younger generation of royalty and nobility, and started sadly shuffling away. Only this time, he didn't head towards the curtained off areas on the sides of the Great Hall that he had been continuously trying to get to before to find a broom to clean up the cake spill. Instead, he started approaching the gigantic doors that led out into the main hall of the castle. Let someone else clean up the huge mess. He needed to get a new left hand glove from his bedroom if he was to get through the rest of tonight.

" _Why do you hate me so much, Jack?!"_

Emma's raging shriek brought a hush over everyone in the Great Hall. The music the band had been playing stopped abruptly in mid-song as conversations everywhere in the party froze in mid-sentence. Even the other country leaders from Corona, Dunbroch, and Berk stopped to see what the commotion was before slowly making their way toward them. Although none of them knew Jack or Emma all that well, their children and some of their people had front row seats to the entire spectacle. All attention was fixed solely on the red-faced, teary eyed Emma and the quietly retreating Jack. There wasn't a single pair of eyes anywhere in the ballroom that was looking elsewhere at that moment.

Jack knew this, and he forced himself to walk a bit faster. The quicker he got out those doors and was safely in the hall, the better. He couldn't afford to stay the center of attention.

"Stop it, Emma…" he mumbled over his shoulder, but not daring to make eye contact with his sister as he did so. One look at her, and his stoic resolve would break.

He had to keep a tight lid on his emotions and not feel anything.

Elsa, Anna, and her friends all tried to pull Emma backwards to try and get her to calm down, but Emma would not be dissuaded. She was too angry and hurt this time to be discouraged from screaming at Jack. She wanted answers as to why he had treated her like this all her life, and nobody was going to stop her from getting them. Not the queen or the princess, not her circle of friends, and not even Jack himself.

This time, she refused to let him walk away without explaining himself first.

"No, not until you give me a reason to keep believing in you like I believe in the Moonbeam Boy!" the little girl screeched as two hot and angry tears began to flow down her face. "Why?! Why do you shut me out?!"

Jack pressed his lips together into a thin white line.

"Why do you shut Queen Elsa and Princess Anna out?!"

He struggled to keep himself from panting heavily with his anxiety.

"Why do you hate everyone in this world?!"

He forced himself to ignore her. He was here. The door was less than a foot away from him. He had made it. He had kept his emotions under control and no one was any wiser about his powers. True, he must seem like the world's biggest asshole now, but better that they think that than realizing what a monster he truly was on the inside. Now, he just had to turn the golden doorknob and he'd be—

"Why are you abandoning me the same way that Daddy did to us?!"

And just like that, Jack's resolve snapped.

That question his little sister screamed at him in a moment of blinding rage knocked away all the defenses that Jack had carefully constructed around his heart since that fateful accident ten years ago in this very ballroom. Instead of keeping a calm and level head and just ignoring what Emma had screeched at him during the course of her tantrum, Jack felt surges of pure fury fill his veins.

She had no right to say such a thing to him! Emma's memories of their father might be a bit foggy considering she had only been four when he disappeared from their lives, but she had such a rosy picture of Tobias compared to him. To her, Tobias Overland had been the perfect father that showered her with hugs and kisses and gave her piggyback rides whenever she asked. But for him? For him, Tobias Overland had been a constant source of fear while growing up. He had been an abusive son of a bitch who beat the shit out of him just because he was different. Tobias was the reason why he had spent two weeks with his arm in a sling back when he was twelve because he had sprained it! At the time, Jack had been very upset when he learned that his father had been banished from the kingdom by the late king and queen because of him, but now that he was older, he was glad that the asshole was gone and couldn't hurt him anymore.

How dare Emma say that he was anything remotely similar to that fucker!

How—dare—she!

" _Emma, shut up!"_

Jack's furious shout echoed throughout the entire expanse of the Great Hall as he whirled back around to glare at the small girl, the anger, sadness, and pain of living like an emotionless doll for the past ten years of his life flooding all his senses as he let go of his control for one brief second.

It was such a short amount of time to forget himself – just one single moment – but it was still enough to make an already bad situation become much, much worse.

As the older of the two Overland siblings spun around to yell at the younger one, the arm attached to the ungloved hand swung out from its previously secure location being folded across his chest, and as his hand swooped through the air, enormous magical blue sparkles erupted from the palm of his hand and spread rapidly across the floor to form an entire blockade of deadly sharp icy spikes.

Gasps and screams of alarm erupted from the crowd as people instinctively leapt backwards to avoid the sharp spears of ice that had mysteriously appeared. The crowd was in complete shock as absolute silence filled the Great Hall.

Ice. The mysterious servant boy had created ice with a mere wave of his hand. How did he do it? Why did he do it? Just because he got angry with the little girl? Was he intentionally trying to hurt her? He did yell at her… Was he going to try to hurt all of them next?!

Rapunzel nearly screamed as Eugene protectively raised one of his arms and shoved her slightly behind him the second the ice sprang forth from Jack's fingers. Fifteen years' worth of being told lies by Mother Gothel naturally made her wary of anything strange or out of the ordinary, the only exception to that rule being the true reason as to why she chose to keep her hair so long and could never cut it. So seeing something like ice forming from the flick of Jack's wrist was definitely enough to send her into near cardiac arrest. Vaguely, the golden-haired princess was somehow aware that Eugene was still keeping his arm raised defensively in front of her should something else happen with the ice, and that from out of the blue, her parents had rushed to her side. Frederic joined Eugene in shielding her by planting his body in between her and the ice, while Arianna held either of her shoulders and forced her to take several steps back and away from the jagged spikes.

They were all terrified, and if she was being completely honest with herself, she had to admit that she was a bit, too. What on earth was happening? Why did Jack make all that ice? Why did he try to kill all of them?

The second that the ice appeared, Merida found herself being jerked as far back as she could without falling over thanks to Ryan Macintosh pulling her out of the way of being nearly impaled by one particularly large icy barb. Under normal circumstances, the Scottish princess would have been furious with Ryan for acting so presumptuous in thinking that she couldn't have gotten out of the way of the unexpected threat herself in time before she got hurt, but in this instance, she felt rather grateful toward him. And she was also grateful towards Alan and Wee for rushing to drag her three little brothers out of the way as well. If nothing else, she had to give her suitors credit for putting her safety as well as the safety of Hamish, Hubert, and Harris first and foremost in the face of danger. But that was only a passing thought compared to what had just happened. Merida thought she had seen the last of magic after she had made the stupid deal with that witch out in the woods of her castle after she got angry with her mother over the whole marriage fiasco last summer, but evidently, she had been very wrong. Magic was everywhere in this world. Even inside the most unsuspecting, seemingly normal people…

Her parents and the other clan lords suddenly appeared by her side, and she became aware of the fact that the lords had moved to stand beside their sons while her parents did the same with her and her little brothers. Elinor ushered the troublesome triplets to move as far back as they could, before yanking her by the wrist and dragging her back as well, while Fergus quickly moved to shield his family behind him. The only way that this strange servant boy was going to hurt his family was if he got through him first. He nearly lost his wife and daughter last year during their second encounter with Mor'du. He was not losing them or his sons now.

Having a prosthetic metal leg was good for controlling the special pedal system he designed to help Toothless fly, but in terms of leaping back and away from rapidly spreading shards of pointy ice, it was a serious flaw. Hiccup had tumbled backwards when he saw the ice and mistimed the shift of weight on his bad leg, causing him to fall to his rump on the floor of the ballroom. Astrid helped him to stand back up, but just like the rest of their friends, she didn't make eye contact with him as she did so. Her eyes were fixed solely on the icy barrier that split their side of the Great Hall, and on the one who had initially created the ice and was still standing by the doors that led out into the castle halls. Hiccup's eyes were wide as he stared at the ice-covered floor. What in the name of Odin…? What exactly did this servant kid do?! Ice?! He had seen enough of ice while living on Berk. It snowed nine months of the year and hailed the other three after all. But he had never realized that magic existed outside of dragons that could cause someone to have the power of generating ice right out of their fingertips!

The only reason he looked away from Jack and all the ice was because he sensed his dad and mentor move to stand beside him, and he shifted his attention for a brief moment to look up at both of them. Gobber seemed to be downright baffled by what he had just seen with Jack and the ice, and he was just staring at the dark-haired boy with his mouth slightly agape. But Stoick, as soon as he got over his initial shock, was now glaring at Jack with nothing short of fury and pure unadulterated loathing in his eyes.

"Witchcraft…!" he growled under his breath.

Elsa and Anna were completely unaware of everyone else's reactions. When the ice appeared out of Jack's hand, they had been just as stunned as everyone else was, but their first priority was to protect the children. The Scottish princes had been pulled away from the deadly sharp frozen water by two of the Scottish clan heirs, but the other servant children were still in grave danger. The queen and the princess of Arendelle had lunged forward to grab all the little ones by either the scruffs of their necks or by their upper arms and then tugged them all as far back as they could so that they wouldn't get hurt. The children were all staring at the ice with wide eyes, and little toddler Sophie Bennett shrieked fearfully as she buried her face into her big brother's side so she wouldn't have to keep looking at the scary ice. Jamie didn't even seem to be aware of what she was doing, he was so shocked. He was just staring dumbstruck at all the ice.

Wordlessly, the royal sisters exchanged looks of incredulity. So this was the reason why Jack was so closed off all the time? This was why he had abruptly ended his friendship with them for what had – at the time – seemed to be no good reason back when the three of them were children? He could make ice? How did he do it? And why hadn't he just told them? If he had only told them that he had bizarre and unexplainable powers… in all honesty, Elsa and Anna weren't a hundred percent positive what they would have done, but just from looking at one another they could easily tell that neither of them would have hated him. Magical powers or no magical powers, Jackson Overland was still their friend! They wouldn't have shunned him for what he could do…

And as for Emma?

She was just frozen in utter shock.

The little girl had screamed at the top of her lungs in absolute terror when she saw the ice appear, and was nearly stabbed right through the stomach at one point by one of the spikes had it not been for Elsa seizing hold of the back of her green servant dress to yank her back and away from the deadly ice spines. Emma wasn't even grateful towards the new queen for saving her from being almost impaled, she was so astonished.

Jack had made ice appear from out of nowhere.

Ice.

From out of nowhere!

This was why her big brother acted so cold and heartless to her all the time? This was why he never played with her or even spent time with her? This was why he was always locked up in his bedroom whenever he wasn't performing his servant duties around the castle or out in the stables?

It was all because he didn't want anyone to know about his powers…

Which meant… he _didn't_ hate her!

She was the one who had been in the wrong.

And because she just didn't drop the issue when he asked her nicely, she had forced him to reveal his magic to not only her, but to everyone else at the party, too. All in all, everyone here in the Great Hall made up a good chunk of the most prominent royalty and nobility in all of Northern Europe.

This was very, very bad…

Jack had his back pressed flat up against the grand doors of the Great Hall, his ungloved hand safely curled up into a tight fist that he held up against his chest as he gazed, sadly and fearfully, at all the guests that were simply staring at him. They all had matching expressions of shock and terror, but none of them could be feeling terror that was even a quarter of a fraction of the amount of fear that was flowing throughout every inch of Jack's being right then. Ten years of keeping his powers locked away and a secret from everyone except his asshole of a father, his late mother, and the previous king and queen, and in one night and one stupid argument with his little sister, all that hard work had just gone down the drain.

Emma knows…

Elsa knows…

 _Everyone knows…_

If the other kings, queens, and maybe even that foreign Viking chief wanted to, they could propose to have him lawfully executed considering that he was nobody important and he had technically just put them, their families, and the lives of every other person inside this ballroom in grave danger. That ought to be the primary concern for Jack right then, but really, the idea of being hanged or beheaded for accidentally revealing his curse to everyone was a secondary concern to the teenage boy compared to the way that Elsa and Emma were staring at him right now.

Both his little sister and the girl he had been in love with for years now were staring at him with a perfect mixture of shock and horror on their faces. Emma just seemed to be flabbergasted at the very sight of him, her own flesh and blood, while Elsa was studying him as though she had never seen him before.

"Jackie…"

"Jack… what—"

But Jack didn't wait to hear whatever it was Elsa and Emma wanted to say to him.

The jagged, icy barricade he made in his one moment of anger had been made quite by accident, but it still separated him from them.

It would separate him from all those that he loved and cared about forever.

How ironic that the revelation of his powers to the whole world happened in the same room that he had last used them in, back when he considered them to be a blessing rather than the curse they were.

With one last sad sigh, he gazed apologetically at Emma and Elsa, reached behind him for the doorknob with his still gloved hand while keeping the other one in a tight fist, and then threw the grand door open before bolting at top speed out of the Great Hall.

For a little while, nobody dared to move or speak even after Jack had fled the room. People's heads were still reeling after what they had just witnessed, and no one really knew what to do in response.

But that all changed when both Chief Stoick the Vast and King Fergus got matching furious glares on their faces.

"After him! He'll kill everyone!"

"He's a threat! We must eliminate him!"

While none of the younger generation of royalty and nobility cheered in agreement with what their king and chief had said, the other Vikings and Scotts that had been invited to the castle for the party, primarily Gobber, Lord Malcom, Lord Duncan, and Lord Ewan, all shouted out incomprehensible war cries as they followed their countries' leaders in maneuvering their way around the icy spikes to start chasing Jack down the hall.

The moment Emma saw all the Vikings and Scotsmen racing to catch up to Jack, she immediately snapped out of her state of shock.

"Wait! Stop! Don't hurt my big brother!" she cried.

Within seconds, the little girl was dodging the several pairs of hands that shot out in an attempt to restrain her, and was dashing as fast as her little legs could carry her after both Jack, and all the angry adults that were chasing him.

"Emma! No!" Elsa shouted.

"Emma, come back!" Anna screamed.

The queen and the princess took off after their small ward, and neither of them noticed, but they were soon followed by the rest of the royalty and nobility, and the rest of Emma's small circle of servant friends.

Jackson Overland's accidental revelation of his magic had not only scared everyone, it had created one of the most bizarre wild goose chases that there ever was.

And the only way that it would come to a stop was if the said boy stopped fleeing.

* * *

Nobody in the Great Hall realized it, but high above everyone's heads, the evil spirit Pitch Black had been watching everything occur from the overhead skylight. The Nightmare King was laughing manically to himself as he watched Jack run away and be chased by all the royals, nobles, his kid sister, and the other servant children. Just as Pitch had figured, Jack had been unable to repress his magic any longer. He had finally snapped, and thanks to that one teenage boy, the Boogeyman could literally feel fresh waves of fear filling his soul.

This extra splurge of terror was great!

Just give that boy a few more minutes to strike fear into the hearts of more people during the course of his fleeing those in the ballroom, and the time would finally come for Pitch to summon forth his Nightmare army.

He was finally ready to attack and terrify the human population in order to draw out the Guardians.

With one last dark chuckle, Pitch wickedly grinned.

"Looks like it's finally time to have some fun…"


	5. The Eternal Winter

**To all you readers out there who have been patiently waiting this past month for this new chapter, I am so sorry it took me so long to finish writing this chapter and getting it posted online. I've just been so busy with my college classes and homework, I haven't had time to write. In fact, I kind of blew off working on homework today just to finish writing this chapter, so I hope you're all grateful for my negligence! Tomorrow I'm devoting solely to my homework, but I'm hoping some well written reviews from all of you will make up for the policy of 'all work, and no play' for me as I finish the two assignments that are due next week. Please like this chapter enough to leave a nice review when you're done reading! _Please!_**

 **In all honesty, I will be amazed if I get few reviews for this chapter. This chapter contains one of the scenes of the canon Frozen movie that I'm sure over half of you reading this only started reading it just to see what I intended to do for this part with Jack. Three guesses as to which iconic scene I'm talking about! ;)**

 **Silken Danser has yet to beta this chapter at this time, but when she does, I'll repost it again with her critiques added in. Please be patient will any typos in the meantime and enjoy the latest chapter!**

 **And as always, I would like to take this time to thank all the wonderful readers who were kind enough to leave a nice review at the end of Chapter Four:**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- Guest (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- Ambar**

 **\- INKsideOut**

 **\- Ghost**

 **\- LISTILLA.11**

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 **Thank you all so much for leaving such kind words in your reviews! I'm glad you all like the story so far! Please, be sure to leave a review when you're done reading this chapter! I hope you all like it!**

 **Please note: I do not own the movies _Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled,_ or _How to Train Your Dragon._ _Frozen, Brave,_ and _Tangled_ belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and _Rise of the Guardians_ and _How To Train Your Dragon_ both belong to Dreamworks Animation. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Remember to review when you're done reading, my dear readers! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Reviews keep me motivated to write! Even if I get really busy with classes and homework, so long as reviews keep pouring in, I will be inspired to keep writing no matter now busy or stressed I may get! :D**

 **EDIT:**

 **As of 4/8/17, this chapter has been edited by my beta reader Silken Danser. Other than a few tweaks here and there with grammar mistakes, pretty much everything is still the same.**

* * *

 **Chapter Five: The Eternal Winter**

Jack's mind was a whirlwind of racing thoughts as his feet pounded down the padded carpeting of the main hallway on the ground floor of the castle. He was scared, confused, and completely miserable.

But one thing was very clear to him.

He had to get out of here.

He had to get as far away from Emma and Elsa as he possibly could.

He had to get away from people in general.

They were terrified of him, and for good reason!

It broke his heart that his little sister and the girl he had loved for years were afraid of him now, but at least they finally understood why he had always kept them at arm's length. It was for their own safety! He hated doing this and leaving them, the two girls he cared for more than he even cared about himself, but he had to get out of here now before he did anything further with his dreaded powers. People almost got hurt with his ice back in the ballroom. He couldn't take a chance of his magic getting loose again and hurting someone for real! People nearly got impaled by ice back in the Great Hall. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but someone might next time.

They could be gravely injured.

Or worse… they could be killed!

Jack all but flew down the hall as he searched for some way out of the castle. It didn't matter what type of exit it was, door or window. He was simply on autopilot as he tried to find a way outside. Should he find an opening, he was jumping out of it the first chance he had. One broken window or door busted off its hinges meant nothing to the panicked teenager compared to the thought of innocent people being frozen into cubes of solid ice or impaled by frozen spikes.

He nearly panicked when he found no such exit anywhere in his haze of terror, but then he spied his saving grace: the palace's main doors that led out to the front courtyard. If he wasn't so scared of himself, Jack would have smiled happily at the sight of them. An exit! He had found an exit! As soon as he was out those doors, everything would be okay! He would be far away from anyone he could hurt inside the castle!

He bolted toward them without a second thought.

Jack wrenched them open with strength that he never knew he possessed, and was ready to dash down the few short stone steps that connected the castle to the pavement of the courtyard, but then he stopped short at what he saw – something he really should have anticipated considering that this was still technically the night of Elsa's coronation as the new queen.

The entire front courtyard of the castle was jam packed with the common folk that lived down in the village, Coronan guards that had been patrolling the grounds, Scottish nobility that had retired from the party early, and a great number of Vikings that hadn't gone to the party at all because they hadn't wanted to get dressed up in formal wear.

While Jack as a person wasn't all that important considering that he wasn't born royalty or as some well-ranked noble, his dramatic exit from the castle's main entrance by throwing the doors open quickly drew stares from everyone in the crowd, and Jack was too shocked by seeing all these people to move for a few seconds. He mentally cursed himself for panicking the way he had when he fled from the Great Hall and thereby forgetting that everyone in the village and even the Coronan, Scottish, and Viking visitors that had chosen not to attend the party were waiting out here to see Elsa and Anna one last time tonight before the new queen and the princess officially retired for the night. The sisters had planned to make one more appearance before they had the festivities dwindle down all over the village and in the castle. How could he forget that?! Now, he was standing in front of all of them when he was in no state to be around people right now. What the hell was he supposed to do?!

A sudden cheering from someone in the crowd snapped him out of his train of thought, and his terror died away for half a second as he stared in confusion at the woman who was yelling happily while she gazed at him.

"It's the royal presenter! Queen Elsa and Princess Anna must be coming out now!" shouted the random village woman.

Within seconds after this random villager shouted that out, the crowd broke out into a thunderous applause as everyone stared expectantly up at Jack, but Jack felt his blood grow ice cold as he stared in terror at everyone looking at him. God dammit! Of course with his bad luck the crowd would automatically assume that he was the royal presenter for Elsa and Anna! With the way things always turned out for him, it was bad he ended up here in front of all these people, but really, it wasn't all that surprising! He couldn't go ahead and run out of the castle – at least not through this exit. He couldn't afford to possibly hurt any of these innocent people. He had to turn around and look for another way out of the palace. There were back doors in the kitchens, right? They weren't too far away! If he could just make it there, he'd be—

His musings were brought to a halt when he heard a lot of yelling behind him, and his head snapped around. To Jack's horror, he had been followed by at least half the guests out of the ballroom. The Scottish king and the Viking chief were at the head of the various Vikings and Scotsmen that were chasing him while yelling out battle cries at the top of their lungs. It was surprising since Jack had doubted that the two warring countries were willingly working together, but in the case of destroying him, the ice monster, it was a mutual threat that they wanted to eliminate. There was no way in hell he would be able to avoid them if he backtracked into the castle to find the kitchen's back entrance. He had to take his chances of not hurting anyone out here in this huge crowd. Better that he run through a bunch of people who were all still ignorant about his powers rather than through a mob of furious Vikings and Scotts that wanted his head on a platter.

Pausing only a moment longer to suck in a deep breath for a desperately needed boost of confidence, Jack squeezed his ungloved hand back into a tight fist again, and then finally forced his feet to move as he hurried down the short number of stairs to start jostling his way through the crowd. So long as he kept his bare hand closed while he made this break for it, everything should be fine. He just had to be very careful about not bumping into anyone.

Because in a massive throng of people like this, one wrong move could cause at least ten people to be skewered with his ice from just one little mishap.

Struggling to keep his emotions in check again as they had been for the last ten years of his life, Jack raced through the crowd, doing his best to avoid colliding into anyone. But it seemed like an impossible task. No matter which way he turned, people pressed nearer to him, wanting to get closer. They all wanted to be near enough to hear him – the one they all assumed to be the grand announcer for Elsa and Anna's arrival down here in the courtyard – and everywhere he turned there were great walls of people, gradually cutting off every path of escape.

He skidded to a stop in terror when one of the Coronan guards with a thick mustache blocked his path.

"Is the queen and the princess coming out?" he inquired.

Jack didn't answer him. He was too panicked to speak. His head darted about in every direction as he searched for an opening in the crowd. He eventually spied a gap in the mass of people, and again kept his ungloved hand close to his chest as he squeezed his way through. People started to stare in confusion as they slowly came to the realization that Jack had no intention whatsoever in calling out Elsa or Anna's names to announce their arrival, but Jack paid their puzzled expressions no mind. He was on the verge of hyperventilating because of how hysterical he was on the inside. He didn't care what any of these peasants, nobles, or royal guards thought of him. He just needed to get away.

He was just passing one of the two beautiful round fountains in the square when he was cut off again by another perplexed young man. This time, it looked like a Viking with thick black hair and a very slight beard.

"Where are Queen Elsa and Princess Anna?" the Viking man questioned.

The frightened servant boy ignored him. Couldn't these people see that he so badly needed to get away from all of them?! Get out of the way! _Please!_

He spun around on his heel and was about to take off running again, but he came face to face with a rather pretty young woman with a happily giggling little baby swaddled up in blue blankets nestled in her arms. Judging by her tartan dress, she belonged to one of the clans from the Highlands. Jack couldn't remember which one of the four clans wore yellow exclusively, but figuring out whether or not she was related to Clan Dunbroch, Clan Macintosh, Clan MacGuffin, or Clan Dingwall was the furthest thing on his mind at the moment considering that the woman with the defenseless infant was pressing closer to him.

"Young man, are you alright?" she asked him, worry for Jack evident in her tone. "You look terrified!"

Jack gulped, unable to find the words to even respond to her. He was starting to get rather disoriented due to his anxiety. His head whipped around, his fearful brown eyes desperately searching for some way to escape this massive horde of people. But his efforts to find another way out of the great throng of bodies were to no avail. There were just too many people! Everywhere he looked, there were faces staring at him, either still looking at him expectantly to announce Elsa and Anna's entrance to the courtyard or looking at him with confusion, obviously wondering why he looked so scared as he ran from the castle's main doors. He gulped as backed away from all of them, in particular the woman in front of him with the helpless baby. This woman with her child reminded him so much of his late mother and his sister when she was a baby. He started backing away from the mother and child as fast as he could. He didn't want to hurt them! He didn't want to hurt anyone here! Couldn't these people see that he needed to get out of this courtyard?! That he was dangerous?! He had to think of another way out here. Maybe he should just run back into the castle and chance the mob running through the halls… After all, there were less of them in there than—

He lost his train of thought when he felt himself bump into the stone ledge of the fountain he passed by a few seconds ago, and he instinctively caught himself from losing his balance by grabbing onto the ledge with his ungloved hand by accident.

The effect was instantaneous.

Before Jack could whip his ungloved hand off of the stone rim of the fountain, his ice powers shot out from his palm, and the entire circular outline of the beautiful structure was covered in a thick layer of powdered frost, while the water itself in the large bowl was completely frozen solid. The great spouts of liquid shooting out into the air in the very middle was instantly transformed into a large, icy structure reminiscent of a menacing, clawed hand with jagged and extra sharp nails.

As people from all the major kingdoms gasped in either shock, awe, disbelief, or just plain confusion, Jack spun around to stare in horror at his latest accident. Shit! Shit! Shit! No one out here seemed to fully understand what had just happened, but it was still another unintentional outburst of his powers! Oh god, now these people had seen his powers as well! It didn't look like anyone was hurt, thank the heavens, but they were still in danger from him! He had to get out of here! _Now!_ Before anyone tried to—

"There he is! Seize him!"

"Stop that lad!"

Jack and just about every other person in the crowd whirled around. Standing in the main entryway into the castle was Stoick the Vast flanked by Gobber, and King Fergus with the other three main clan lords, and behind all of them were a number of other Vikings and Scotsmen that had been attending the party. The two leaders were glaring murderously at Jack as they pointed their fingers right at him, directing everyone's attention back to the frightened teenager. The outside crowd still didn't fully comprehend what was happening, but Jack just wanted more than anything to simply vanish completely from this horrible mess.

"S-Stay back!" he pleaded, making many people near him become even more puzzled by this scenario. "Please! Just… Just stay back! I don't want to—"

"Jackie!"

Jack's insides twisted into agonizingly tight knots when Emma's little face appeared in the mass of bodies gathered in the entryway. She looked so scared and confused by what was happening as she gazed out at her older brother standing fearfully near the frozen fountain in the exact center of the front courtyard, and she clutched the white silk glove that she had taken from Jack tightly in her little fist as she squeezed her way past all the furious older adults. She wasn't alone either. Within seconds after his little sister emerged from behind the Vikings and the Scotts, Elsa and Anna shoved their way to the front of the mob, and following them was Jamie and all the other servant children, and the rest of the visiting royalty, nobility, and just about half of the other guests from the party. They were all looking at him with matching looks on their faces:

Shock, disbelief, but above all… _fear._

As Jack mentally freaked over being chased by all these royals and nobles from the Great Hall, Elsa hurried to join Emma at the front of the few short steps, her eyes filled to the brim with genuine concern and confusion.

"Jack!" she shouted out. "Jack… what's going on?!"

"Jackie!" Emma called out, trying to squeeze her way past the last handful of adults so she could run down the few short steps to reach him. "Jackie! Big Brother! You… You can make—?"

" _No, Emma!"_

Jack's sudden, terrified shriek cut through the air like a knife, and all eyes immediately zoomed back to him, but Jack didn't even notice that he was the center of attention again. All his focus was solely on Emma. He had to stop her from reaching him! Emma was his precious little sister! He couldn't let her get hurt by him! He had to warn her to keep her distance from him! Couldn't she see that her safety was in jeopardy if she was around him?!

"No, no, no! Emma, keep back! Please!" he begged, actually raising up both his hands in a warning manner to further emphasize to her how serious he was. Then he forced himself to look away from Emma's confused face to meet the gazes of the still thoroughly baffled Elsa and Anna. "Elsa! Anna! Please! Just… Just keep her away from me! _Please!_ All of you! You all need to stay away—!"

He was cut off when a great burst of ice shot unexpectedly out of his bare hand, and it blasted through the air right in the direction of all the people gathered at the palace entrance.

To Jack's relief, the ice didn't actually hit anyone in the group, and it instead struck the castle's stone steps.

But to his horror, people in both the crowd around him and gathered in the entryway still screamed in terror as they all nearly fell over themselves in their mad scramble to move out of the way of the blast, or slipped on the ice that spread rapidly across the ground.

The Viking chief and the king of Dunbroch got the worst of it though. In an effort to protect their people, they had both shoved their way to the front when they shouted to the crowd for someone to stop Jack, and when the ice landed on the stone steps, the two leaders slipped and fell on top of each other and nearly toppled over the few who had managed to stay upright.

Upon seeing the two redheaded leaders slip and tumble over, Hiccup and Merida scrambled past the other bodies to reach their fallen fathers.

"Dad!"

"Father!"

The Viking heir and the Scottish princess tried to help Stoick and Fergus to stand up, but Jack just looked on in horror at what he had done. He was glad that neither of them were killed during his accidental blast of winter magic, but were they hurt at all? Were any bones broken? Did they maybe hit their heads and had concussions?

His internal musings were brought to a halt when the sound of a sturdy steel sword being unsheathed echoed throughout the courtyard, and Jack spun around. The Coronan guard with the bushy mustache who had tried to speak to him before had taken out his sword, and was full out glaring at him hatefully. He momentarily paused in his antagonistic staring at Jack to glance towards the Coronan royal family that were standing in just plain shock at the top of the steps near Elsa and Anna.

"Never fear, your majesties, your highnesses! I'll deal with this beast!" he yelled.

Within seconds, King Frederic and Queen Arianna started shouting out incomprehensible protests to what the guard was doing while Princess Rapunzel and Eugene just exchanged looks of unease. This was not going to end well, they all knew.

But Emma had to be forcibly restrained by both Elsa and Anna when she saw the guard start running straight towards her big brother.

" _No! Don't hurt him! Don't hurt Jackie!"_ Emma screamed at the top of her lungs as she struggled to free herself from the hands that were restraining her.

"I am the queen here, and I order you to stop!" Elsa shouted out, also terrified at the prospect that this Coronan guard was going to kill her childhood friend.

But Jack didn't even notice what any of them were doing. All his attention was focused on the guard that was charging straight towards him with his sword drawn, and the townsfolk quickly leapt out of his way so as to not be hurt by either the blade or by any more ice magic from Jack.

The terrified teenager immediately backed away and raised his arms again as a weak means of defending himself.

"Please! Stay back!" he shouted fearfully at the still charging guard. "For your own safety, please! Keep away!"

But the Coronan guard paid his words no mind, and let out a roar of fury as he got even closer. When he was finally within range to strike Jack down, he raised his sword high above his head. "Die, you freak!"

"Big Brother!"

"Jack!"

"Please, stop!"

The screams of Emma, Elsa, and Anna were all particularly loud, but they didn't hold a candle to the scream of alarm that Jack made.

" _Stay away!"_

In a moment of pure terror of either accidentally hurting this man with his powers or possibly being killed by the man's sword, Jack's powers flared up again without his conscious command. More ice shot out from his ungloved hand, and within seconds, the Coronan guard's legs were incased in solid ice, preventing him from moving any closer to Jack. The guard let out a yelp of surprise when he realized his predicament, and he started beating the ice coating him with the blade of his sword to try and chip the ice off him.

Jack gaped in horror. Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh, shit! The man was frozen from the waist down! And it was all his fault!

"Monster!"

"Spawn of Loki!"

"What… What _are_ you…?!"

These shouts from King Fergus, Chief Stoick, and King Frederic made Jack flinch, and then he looked around at the horrified expressions of the rest of the crowd.

The Dunbroch clanswoman with the baby who had been nice enoughto ask him if he was all right before was now clutching her screaming baby close to her chest, trying to shield the little one from his view as she backed fearfully away from him.

The Viking man he had seen before was trying to discretely pull out a dagger from its sheathe on his hip, ready to use it on him should he take one step in his direction.

A man who lived here in the village was dragging his two dumbstruck daughters several paces backward and out of range of anymore ice, clearly in shock himself by what he was witnessing.

All these reactions made Jack's head spin. This was everything that the trolls had warned him about so many years ago after his accident with Elsa and Anna. People were so scared of him! Actually, forget their reactions! _He_ feared himself! And what the Coronan king just shouted out, about asking him what on earth he was? Jack didn't know, nor did he want to know. He just wanted to be free of this terrible curse!

Everyone knew his secret.

Everyone knew he was born with these cursed powers.

Everyone knew he was a monster.

He needed to get the hell out of here!

"Jackie!"

"Jack! Jack, are you all right?!"

He spun around again. Elsa and Emma were still on top of the steps, but unlike everyone else, they weren't staring at him in terror anymore. If anything, they looked terrified _for_ him rather than _of_ him.

Jack's already broken heart was shattered completely upon seeing their expressions, but he forced himself to ignore the ache in his chest. He gave them both one last sad, apologetic look, and then took off running again at top speed through the crowd, making sure to keep his ungloved hand in a tight fist against his chest. His destination? The side door in the tall stone walls that led off to the castle pastures near the edge of the fjord.

People quickly jumped out of the way as he ran past. No one wanted to be harmed by him. This strange servant boy had powers of an unexplainable nature, and that made him very dangerous. If he was getting out of here instead of sticking around, they should thank the heavens! Just leave them in peace without hurting any of them any further!

The moment he took off, Emma slammed the heel of her shoe down hard on Anna's foot. As the princess yelped in pain, Emma seized the chance to break free from both her hands and Elsa's, and ran at top speed after her retreating brother.

"Jackie! No!" she called out.

People stared in wonder at the little girl that was apparently chasing after the treacherous boy, not the slightest bit afraid, but seemingly worried about the servant kid instead.

Elsa gaped at seeing Emma chasing after Jack, but then quickly swung around to face Anna.

"Anna? Stay here!" she ordered

"But Elsa—!"

Elsa didn't wait for Anna to finish that sentence though, because within seconds, she had gathered up the skirts of her dress in one hand, and was then hurrying down the few short castle steps after Emma and Jack. Emma was her ward, but Jack was also her friend. Just like Emma, Elsa had to somehow stop Jack from running off like this. It was obvious to the new queen that Jack didn't mean to cause people any harm with his newly revealed winter powers. He was a good person, but he feared what he could do. Elsa knew that somehow, she had to convince him to come back inside the castle. She was the queen of Arendelle and he was not only her friend, he was a loyal castle servant and therefore one of Arendelle's citizens! She could put him under her protection from everyone in the other major kingdoms that were all but terrified of him.

Jack didn't even realize that he was still being followed. The adrenaline pumping through his veins made him immune to hearing anything at this moment other than his own frantic heartbeat and the terrified exclamations that people in the crowd were making as he sped past all of them towards the side door of the palace. When he reached the said door, he nearly ripped the wooden door right off its hinges as he flung it open, and then continued running for his life into the castle fields.

It wasn't until Jack had run far into the pastures and was near the edge of the fjord that he was forced to come to a stop, but not because he wanted to.

It was because he accidentally tripped over a semi large rock in the field, and he fell forward, his boot coming off his left foot and exposing the bare skin to the night air.

He gasped when he felt his foot pop out of the leather confines. Other than his hands, his feet were the other parts of his body that sent out great streams of ice. It was bad enough that Emma had taken one of his gloves, but now one of his boots was off his feet?! _Fuck!_

Ignoring the burning sensation in his lungs from running so hard and so far in such a short amount of time, Jack bent down and scooped up his lone boot. He was about to jam it back onto his foot and work on lacing it back up again, but then he heard the voices of the two girls that he was afraid of hurting the most in this world.

"Big Brother!"

"Jack!"

The boot slipped out from between his fingers as his head snapped straight up in alarm. Emma and Elsa had also squeezed through the castle wall door and were running at top speed across the pasture to reach him. Emma's eyes were brimming with unshed, fearful tears for Jack as she still gripped his one lone white glove tightly in her hand, and the expression on Elsa's face was nothing short of pure desperation as she ran after Emma to reach Jack, her purple cape billowing about in the night wind as she did so.

Wait… the wind!

"Wind, help!" Jack called out desperately.

The invisible breeze stirred up around him at his call.

 _Jack…_

"Stop them! Please! Don't let them get too close to me!" he begged.

To be honest, Jack had no idea whether or not his plea to his invisible friend would do any good, as he had never asked the wind to do something for him before. But to his complete surprise, the wind did as he asked. The instant Jack had begged the wind to slow down his friends, the wind whipped right past him to barrel right into the unsuspecting forms of his little sister and the queen. Emma and Elsa were greatly startled by the sudden gust of wind rushing into their faces, and although neither of them seemed to realize that it was Jack who had told the airstream to halt them for as long as possible, the wind had bought him a minute's worth of time. Maybe two if he was lucky.

If he was going to get away, he had to act now.

But how? How in the world was he going to get away from Arendelle with both of them right on his tail, and from the middle of the castle pastures? Damn him for panicking back there in the courtyard! He should have run for the main gates so he would have had a clear shot of running out of the city all together!

Forgetting all about his discarded boot, Jack gulped and slowly began backing away from the sight of Emma and Elsa, who were both still battling the unrelenting wind whipping about around them. What he didn't realize, however, was that he was backing up right to the edge of the water, and with every step he took on his exposed foot, ice and frost coated the ground after him. Right when his foot was about to unknowingly plunge into the watery depths of the inlet, the ice that Jack was unintentionally creating froze the edge of the water completely solid.

Jack's head snapped around from worriedly watching his kid sister and his queen to witness what was happening to the water. He was freezing it. He was freezing the fjord. Then his head slowly glanced up to look across the water to the far off opposite bank. On the opposite side of the fjord was the evergreen forest on the outskirts of the capitol, and beyond that was the snow-capped mountain range several miles away.

How far did those mountain ranges stretch? Did anyone even know exactly? The North Mountain was a naturally snowy place without any people around. The only people who dared to venture out there were the Arendelle ice harvesters, but they stayed mostly around the base. They never went near the peak. Maybe… Maybe it would be safer out there for him! So long as he ventured far enough near the summit where not even the ice harvesters dared to climb and collect ice blocks, he could live out the rest of his life in peace, far away from anyone he could ever possibly hurt with his god damn magic! There was just no telling how far away he could get from everyone if he didn't at least try to keep running away right now!

But still… could he really do it? Could he just up and leave Emma and Elsa like this? If he left, he wasn't coming back. It was as simple as that.

 _Jack…_

Jack gulped, and then looked up at the dark night sky. The moon was shining brightly overhead, as though encouraging him to just leave. Leave and never return to Arendelle where he might accidentally hurt even more people.

But it wasn't the moon's approval that he needed right now. It was the wind's. The wind was the only thing in this world that he could never hurt. It was his friend.

"What do you think, Wind?" he whispered. "Should I go for it?"

There was a momentary pause, and then the great gale stopped whirling around Emma and Elsa to shoot forward and whistle encouragingly in his ear.

 _Go…_

"Jack!"

"Big Brother! Wait, please!"

Emma and Elsa were right behind him.

It was now or never.

With one final sigh, Jack spared one last glance over his shoulder at his only sister and the wonderful girl he had been in love with for the past four years.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered.

And then, without daring to turn back around and see either of their expressions, Jack hesitantly took one step forward with his bare foot onto the small ice patch he had accidentally made on the fjord during his moment of panic. He was a little worried that he might not be able to make the ice again intentionally this time, but to his great relief, not only did the water freeze underneath his foot, but a turquoise snowflake emblem appeared right where he set his weight down before vanishing completely into the solid ice he had made in the inlet. With newfound confidence, Jack clenched up his hands into tight fists to ensure that none of his ice powers would shoot out again from either of his hands, even the gloved one, and then he took off running across the waters of the fjord.

His bare left foot made more light blue snowflake emblems appear on the frozen surface of the water as he ran for his life, and while his right foot was still lodged inside his snug leather boot, solid ice appeared underneath it, just without the snowflake patterns that popped up for a few moments every time he set down his left foot before disappearing again into the frosty designs of the frozen water.

In the back of his mind, Jack registered that he could he still hear Emma and Elsa calling out for him desperately to stop and come back, but Jack forced himself to tune them out as he finally made it to the opposite bank by the woods.

He didn't dare to stop and look back as he began forcing his way past the various branches of dark green evergreen trees as he hurdled through the dense forest.

His friend in the breeze was calling him to the far away snowcapped North Mountain.

All the time he spent ignoring its plea to leave Arendelle and wondering how to keep his powers a secret were officially behind him.

The moon in the sky would light the way and the wind would guide him.

It was off to the great unknown for Jackson Overland.

But his deepest and darkest secret did not disappear along with him.

* * *

When the gust of wind whipped up around Emma and Elsa from seemingly nowhere, the queen and the small servant girl were forced to halt in their tracks. Elsa actually had to reach down and grab hold of Emma when the windstorm became so bad that the little girl rose up an inch or so into the air.

"G-Goodness me!" the platinum-blonde exclaimed.

"Where did all this wind come from, Queen Elsa?!" Emma shouted to be heard over the roar of the wind.

"I'm… I'm not sure!"

Emma opened her mouth to say more, but as mysteriously as the gust of wind had appeared, it disappeared again quick as a flash. The little girl and the late teenager exchanged puzzled looks over what had just occurred, but then they remembered Jack, and turned to try and chase after him again. That was when they saw him racing his way across the fjord, freezing the water underneath him with his one bare foot.

"Jackie, stop!"

Before Elsa could try and stop her, Emma took off sprinting in the direction of the fjord. When she tried to step onto the frozen sea to keep chasing her older brother though, she lost her footing on the slippery surface, and fell face first onto the ice.

"Emma!" Elsa cried in alarm, quickly rushing to her side to check the little girl over. "Emma! Are you okay?!"

Mutely, Emma shook her head as she sat back up, her eyes only looking at the small green dot on the opposite side of the frozen waters that she knew to be Jack as he vanished into the green forests that surrounded the city.

"No…" Emma whispered, squeezing the white glove tightly in her hand as she did so. "No… Jackie, come back! Please!"

Elsa felt so bad for Emma. If their roles were reversed and she was watching her sister run away from her out of fear of supernatural powers that no one knew Anna possessed, she knew she would probably be heartbroken and in a state of shock too. That's not to say that Elsa wasn't in shock right now though, because she very much was. In the last ten minutes, she had found out more about Jack than she ever had, despite growing up alongside him for the past eighteen years. Which led her to wonder whether or not she had ever known anything about him at all.

Sure, Jack had become a rather private person, after he started pushing her and Anna away when they were all children, but she had still thought that in some strange way, Jack still trusted her.

But apparently, the new queen had been very wrong.

Jack shutting herself, Anna, and Emma out hadn't been without cause.

He had been trying to keep his strange ice powers a secret.

But how could he assume that she would have hated him for his abilities?

She couldn't speak for Anna, as Anna was her own person with her own opinions, but Elsa was certain that her younger sister would be on her side about this. Jack was still their friend even if he did keep his distance from people! Elsa was positive that Anna no more hated Jack than she did.

And Emma?

Emma was the first to start running after Jack when he fled from the palace courtyard, and judging by her sad expression right now, she was heartbroken that her brother had run away like this, not terrified of him or angry.

Despite Jack's strange powers, his pushing her away all her life, and even the small fight between them back in the castle ballroom, Emma still adored her big brother. There was no doubt about it whatsoever in Elsa's mind.

Elsa sighed, and was about to gently help Emma stand back up so they could go back to the main courtyard and figure out what to do next, but then she noticed something that made her gasp rather loudly in complete shock.

Emma heard her sharp intake of breath, and she snapped out of her own distress long enough to look up at Elsa curiously.

"What is it, Queen Elsa?" she mumbled, wiping away a few stray tears from the corners of her eyes as she did so.

But Elsa didn't meet the child's gaze. Her eyesight was zeroed in on the watery surface of the fjord in front of them.

"The fjord…!" was all she could manage to gasp out in reply.

Emma blinked in obvious confusion, but then she turned her head to see what Elsa was talking about.

Within seconds, her dark brown eyes became as wide as saucers.

The ice that Jack had made on the surface of the ocean when he was running away from both of them was spreading rapidly across the water in all directions imaginable. It wasn't even thin and easily breakable ice either, but the thick sturdy kind that would take anyone ages to smash apart. As the entire sea around the city was slowly engulfed in Jack's magical ice, freezing all the foreign visitors' ships in place so that they couldn't budge at all, soft and fluffy white snowflakes began to slowly glide down in the air from the night sky.

Neither Elsa nor Emma knew how it was possible, but it seemed as though Jack's powers had somehow set off a winter storm in the middle of summer.

"Snow?" Emma whispered, reaching out one of her small hands to catch a particularly fat and fluffy white flake in the palm of her hand. It landed there without any problems, only to dissolve within seconds of encountering the little girl's palm.

As soon as it melted away, Emma shivered from the suddenly cold air and ran her hands up and down repeatedly on her upper arms to try and warm up. Elsa hurried to unclip her purple cloak from around her neck and then draped it around Emma's quivering shoulders. It didn't matter that Emma was of common birth and she was the queen. No way was she going to stay somewhat warm in her summery cape when a small child was right next to her, freezing from the rather abrupt change in the weather.

Emma blinked when the cloak was wrapped around her, but before she could say something in regards to the kind gesture, such as a simple thank you or even a weak protest of being given the queen's coronation cloak to wear, Elsa was rising from the ground, and then offering Emma a hand to help her up as well.

"We need to go back to the courtyard," Elsa explained.

Emma's eyes widened when she heard this, and her head started turning sporadically back and forth between the castle walls in the distance and looking out at the forest across the frozen fjord where she had last seen her big brother disappear.

"But… But Jackie—!"

"We will figure out what to do about all this back in the courtyard, Emma. We are not just going to let Jack run away like this, I promise. But we need to go back and join everyone else before we can do anything else."

Emma still didn't like the fact that she was being indirectly forbidden from trying to run across the frozen sea to keep chasing after her big brother, but after hearing Elsa promise her that something would be done to bring Jack home again, the little girl reluctantly nodded before taking Elsa's hand, with the hand not holding on to her big brother's discarded white glove, and allowed herself to be dragged up onto her feet again. Wordlessly, Emma trailed along slowly after Elsa as they made their way to the side door of the castle walls to head back into the courtyard.

Elsa's head was still reeling from everything that had just happened, but Emma was simply in a state of blank shock. With a sigh, she spared a sad look down at the white glove she had stolen from Jack back in the ballroom. Her big brother not only had strange ice magic and had seemingly caused winter to come to Arendelle several months too early, but he also just ran off and left her behind. Emma didn't know how she felt about that last part. Judging by his reactions to everything he had done back in the Great Hall and out in the courtyard a few minutes ago, the little girl could tell that her big brother was apparently scared of his powers, but didn't he trust her at all? Had Emma only known about his powers, she never would have pushed him as hard as she did, by yelling at him back in the castle.

Why didn't he ever tell her that he could make ice with just a snap of his fingers?

Elsa saw the sad look on her face, and quickly tried to tune her back in to the present.

"Are you all right?" she asked kindly as she held open the door so Emma could head back into the courtyard first.

Emma immediately shook her head at the question as she stepped forward so she could slip in through the doorway. "Uh-uh," she said quickly.

Elsa frowned, but then a more prominent thought occurred to her, and she knew that despite how shocked Emma was right now over everything, and heartbroken from Jack having seemingly just run away from Arendelle, she still had to ask it.

"Emma… did you know?"

Emma tripped over her own feet after hearing that, but after the words sunk in, she paused mid-step in the middle of the doorway, tilted her head upward to meet Elsa's eyes, and then slowly shook her head again.

"No… Did you, your majesty?"

Elsa blinked. Despite only being a ten-year-old little girl, Emma was a very sharp child. Not many other children her age would have thought to deflect such a question back at the one making the inquiry.

"No, I did not, Emma. And neither did Anna. We were just as surprised as you were over everything that just happened."

Emma didn't say anything in reply to that. She just blinked at the blonde's words, but then sighed and nodded once before heading into the courtyard. Elsa was taken aback by her lack of a response. She knew that the little girl had to be hurting right now, but this almost seemed to be some type of repression of emotions that Emma was going through right now.

The way Jack hid his emotions for the past ten years, now Emma was doing the same.

But it wasn't because she was trying to keep hidden magic powers a secret.

It was so Elsa wouldn't worry about her.

But that attitude didn't stop Elsa from worrying about her. If anything, it made the queen ten times more worried about the small child.

Elsa started to follow Emma back into the courtyard while opening her mouth to tell the little girl something – anything.

But that was when it happened.

People in the courtyard had been whispering and murmuring anxiously amongst themselves as they talked about everything they had witnessed Jack do with his ice powers: freezing one of the courtyard fountains, encasing the legs of the Coronan guard who tried to attack him into blocks of ice – which people were desperately trying to chip away with the tips of sharp blades so that the poor man could be free to move around again – and then apparently causing the land to be plunged into an eternal winter as they saw the fat snowflakes fall lightly down from the sky. But all talk and movement in the castle square came to a sudden hush when maniacal laughter suddenly echoed throughout the area.

Dark and ominous laughter.

As people exchanged terrified looks, the laughter continued to echo from seemingly everywhere in the courtyard, with no set place as to where it could possibly be originating from.

Now what the hell was going on?

Just as soon people started wondering this unasked question, something happened high overheard, and everyone in attendance looked up toward the sky. But when they did, nearly all the people in the crowd started to scream in absolute horror.

It was nighttime, so the sky was expected to be dark, but everyone there knew that great swirls of inky black sand shouldn't be hovering high over all their heads and slowly transforming into great, nightmarish black sand horses with glowing yellow eyes. There were so many hordes of them filling the air high above them all, soon it was all but impossible to see the sky beyond the horses. How many were there exactly?! Two hundred?! Three hundred?! No… that couldn't possibly be enough… There had to be a thousand of those horses up there, at the very least!

And riding atop the horse that was nearest to the ground was a frightening man that looked as though he had, in another lifetime, been born in some type of alternate shadow world. He had oily black hair, sallow gray skin, an insane grin, swirling black robes, and in one of his hands was an enormous black scythe. He was still laughing manically as he beheld all the dumbstruck and terrified expressions of the human beings down below him.

No one quite knew what was going on, but one thing was certain to every human being down in the courtyard that was witnessing this:

Jackson Overland wasn't the only supernaturally-powered being around here.

Pitch Black was beyond pleased. Thanks to allowing Jackson Overland to run out here and accidentally frighten everyone with those mysterious ice powers of his, the humans' fear had skyrocketed to unparalleled levels. It was worth the wait these past ten years to slowly turn Jack from a happy boy who loved his ice and snow magic to a terrified young teen who, despite being so scared of hurting other people, had caused an entire crowd that contained people from four different countries to be afraid of him. And their mass combination of fear was more than enough to further fuel his beautiful Nightmares to become at least three times as powerful as they were before!

He really wished that he could personally thank Jack for what he had unknowingly done for him, building up his army for the past decade and then scaring the people in this courtyard enough to make his black sand horses even more powerful than ever, but that stupid teenager had gotten so scared of hurting people that he had run away from the city! That was something that had never occurred to Pitch in his plan to terrorize the human race enough to cause the Guardians to get involved so he could crush them. He had never imagined that his terrorizing the ice-wielder boy's nightmares with visions of hurting others would be enough to make the teenager run away. That was a problem. Pitch needed Jack here so he could further spread fear amongst people with his powers. As soon as he dealt with the task of invoking fear within the humans through his lovely Nightmares, he would have to pursue that boy.

If he wanted the meddlesome Guardians to actually meddle this time, he needed Jack.

It was annoying that he would have to search for the dark-haired boy in the forest and mountains, but it was unfortunately necessary.

He just had to make this attack on the humans quick before he lost any hope of tracking Jack down whatsoever.

With that thought in mind, Pitch forced his grinning lips to make his smile seem twice as twisted as ever, and then he pointed his scythe down at the still terrified humans staring up at him down below.

"Strike fear in every heart!" he ordered.

Upon his command, the black sand stallions galloped down from sky on the air currents to force their way through the humans in the courtyard.

Normal Arendelle citizens screamed as they lunged to get out of the way of the evil stampeding black sand horses that hurtled down towards them from the night sky, but the visitors to the Norwegian country did their best to fight back. The Coronan guards had their swords strapped to their waists and they quickly unsheathed them, and in the case of the Vikings and visiting Scotsmen, those that had been enjoying the party a little while ago quickly dashed to find the nearest weapon available in an effort to defend themselves as well as their country leaders and their families. It didn't even have to be a sharp axe or heavy hammer that they were all looking for. Just something good and strong that they could use to whack one of these horses with would be great!

But their efforts were to no avail. No matter what any of the humans did, their attacks did absolutely nothing to the strange sand creatures. If any of their blows happened to land on one of Pitch's Nightmares, the sand would merely dissolve away for a few seconds before magically repairing itself as though the attack never landed on it at all. The human defenders were completely stunned by this.

What were these creatures?!

Why couldn't they stop them?!

And who was that shadow man that was directing this attack?!

Was Jack's use of ice, which scared the people out of the ballroom and caused them to come out here, related to this mysterious attack on the city?!

Elsa was completely shocked by what was happening, but she knew that she couldn't just stand here. She had to find Anna, and somehow keep little Emma safe! She sucked in a deep breath and glanced down at the little girl. Emma had turned completely white as she clung to the skirt of the queen's dress, and Elsa could hear her terrified sobs as she buried her face into the folds of the fabric. The small girl was all but petrified from how scared she was.

Knowing she couldn't just abandon Emma here, Elsa quickly squeezed the tiny hand that wasn't clutching onto Jack's glove to make Emma look up at her with teary eyes.

"Follow me, and stay close!" the queen ordered.

Emma tried to immediately shake her head no, but Elsa wouldn't take that response. Tightening her hold on Emma's hand to ensure that they weren't separated, Elsa dashed through the mad crowd to try and find her sister, all the while dragging Emma along behind her. Emma was screaming in terror at the top of her lungs as they jostled their way through the mob, but Elsa forced herself to keep going and not stop. If she stopped, they would either be trampled by members of the frightened townsfolk, who were so scared right now they didn't even blink twice when they saw their new queen run past with the little girl, or one of these black sand horses might try to attack them. While the horses were only galloping about around the courtyard and weren't exactly causing anyone in attendance any physical harm, Elsa wasn't taking any chances. Should she and Emma come face to face with one of these monsters, she was shoving the little girl behind her and ordering her to run and find Anna. Emma was only a little girl.

As the queen of Arendelle, it was her duty to protect the citizens of her country.

But even before she was a queen, she was an older sister.

She had to find Anna.

"Anna!" she shouted, her head spinning about in every direction in her desperation to find her sweet little sister. "Anna, where are you?!"

"Elsa!"

Elsa screeched to a halt and whirled around. Anna was near the fountain that Jack had frozen in his escape from the castle, hiding behind the body of their uncle. King Frederic and Eugene were seemingly trying to shield her, Rapunzel, and Queen Arianna behind them as the black sand horses stampeded around them, and all the Coronan guards, other than the one that Jack had fearfully frozen to the ground, were slashing their swords at any of the horses that tried to approach their king and future prince. All the members of the royalty were near the fountains, in fact. While all the Vikings had experience with fighting and were actively trying to find weapons to beat back the monsters under the orders of Chief Stoick, with his son Hiccup and the rest of his friends fighting alongside him, the actions of the members of the Scottish royals varied. The Dunbroch lords and sons were like the Vikings, all working together to fight off any of the horses that dared to come near them, Queen Elinor, the princes Hamish, Hubert, and Harris, and the rest of the servant children who were huddled near the three little redheaded boys. King Fergus was with them, using his oversized fists to try and hit a few of the black horses, but to no avail, and surprisingly, his daughter was fighting alongside him. Merida didn't seem to care at all that she was a princess and therefore was supposed to be playing the damsel in distress right now like what Elinor, Anna, Rapunzel, and Queen Arianna were doing. Instead, the Scottish princess was ignoring her mother's desperate pleas to come hide behind her father and the lords and their sons, and instead she punched and kicked at any of the black sand stallions that her father happened to miss. Merida she didn't seem to care in the slightest that her actions were causing her beautiful turquoise blue and gold dress to get ripped and dirty and that her wimple was sliding off her head slightly, exposing a bit of her naturally curly red hair.

But Elsa didn't care that the crown princess of Dunbroch was fighting off the monsters alongside her father.

She didn't care that the Vikings and the Scotts had seemingly put aside their differences for a few minutes to deal with the current magical attack that they were all facing.

She didn't care that half the townsfolk were screaming as they tried to avoid being attacked by the black sand horses with the chilling yellow eyes.

All Elsa cared about was keeping a firm grip on Emma's hand as she ran to her beloved little sister.

"Anna!" Elsa called out, dragging the terrified Emma behind her as she made a beeline for her sister. "Anna!"

Anna tried to fight against the restraining hands of their frantic aunt to get around their uncle so she could see her better. The moment she got a clear look at her though, her bright blue eyes became wide with pure fear. "Elsa! Look out!"

Elsa blinked, but then she heard something pawing the ground behind her and Emma, and she abruptly spun around.

One of the black sand horses was slowly approaching the queen and the small servant child, snorting menacingly as it closed in on the adult and child.

Emma screamed in complete terror, and even Elsa felt her blood run cold. None of these creatures were exactly attacking anyone, just stamping their hooves and neighing and whinnying threateningly at people, but that wasn't to say that they wouldn't attack, should that mysterious shadow man order them to do so. Just what was going to happen to her and Emma now?!

The Nightmare snorted, and it started barreling its way toward the noblewoman and the commoner child, but that was when Pitch finally snapped his fingers, and all the black sand stallions seemed to freeze in place.

"Time to go. We have an ice-user to track," he ordered.

Within seconds, all the Nightmares seemed to forget all about the townsfolk as they instead took off in the air again to gather around the Nightmare King. People were still terrified, but they were also confused. Pitch paid everyone's matching perplexed looks no mind though. He just grinned maliciously at the crowd.

"Thank you all for supplying me with your fear! It will be put to good use, I promise!"

And then, before anyone could do anything at all, Pitch commanded his vast legion of Nightmares to gallop away through the sky in the direction of the faraway snowy mountains. Within seconds, they were gone.

Between everything that had just happened, what with Jack accidentally revealing his magical powers to the entire world and then the Boogeyman showing up and intentionally freaking everyone out before abruptly vanishing for reasons unknown to the crowd, it was needless to say that people were both rattled and confused. No one quite knew what to make of everything that had just happened, but they wanted answers.

Especially the visiting royals and nobles.

But Queen Elsa was in no mood to act like the queen she was supposed to be right now.

Not when she had a shaking little girl next to her that looked like she was on the verge of fainting from how scared she was, and when her own sister was barreling past their extended family from Corona to tackle her in a hug.

"Elsa!" Anna cried, throwing her arms around her neck before burying her face into her shoulder. "Elsa! I… I was so scared! Please, tell me you and Emma are okay!"

Within seconds, Elsa relinquished her grip on little Emma's hand to wrap her arms around her little sister and hug her back just as tight. "I'm okay, Anna. And so is Emma. What about you?! Are _you_ all right?!"

Anna slowly nodded. "I'm fine, Elsa! I swear! But where's Jack?! Is he okay?! Those… Those _things_ didn't get him, right?!"

Upon hearing what the princess asked, Emma broke down into heart wrenching sobs as she squeezed the white glove so tightly to her chest, the skin of her hand turned white. And her reaction greatly startled both Elsa and Anna.

"Emma!"

"H-Hey now, don't cry! Everything's going to be—"

"Jackie's gone! He ran away! He ran away into the mountains!"

Emma screeched this so loudly, a lot of people in the crowd immediately turned to look at her as she continued to wail, the other foreign royals and nobles in particular. Stoick the Vast took one look at the sobbing child before glancing up at the still snowing sky, and then plastered an ugly scowl on his face before marching purposely towards the distressed little girl and the new queen and her sister the princess.

Emma was too distraught to notice at first that she had attracted the attention of the fuming Viking chief, but Elsa and Anna saw him approaching at once and did their best to shield her as best as they could behind them.

"Chief Stoick? Is there a problem?" Elsa asked pointedly, putting her authoritative queen face back on once again.

"Do you have something you wish to say to our ward?" Anna asked, her tone much snippier than her elder sister's was and with her blue eyes slightly narrowed.

Stoick's eyes narrowed, not the slightest bit intimidated by either of the girls that had taken it upon themselves to act as guards for the little girl who was related to the boy that had caused the winter in the middle of summer. "I do, as a matter of fact, your highness! I want to know whether or not that child has sorcery in her too, and if so, to stop this cold weather at once!"

Before Elsa or Anna could reply, King Fergus was surprisingly nodding in agreement as he shuffled forward on his peg leg, and the rest of the members of the foreign royalty and nobility followed him.

"Aye! That lass was saying that that Jack lad is her brother! Is she an ice-beast, too?!" he demanded.

"Fergus!" said Elinor sharply, furious about what her husband had just called Jack and Emma. "That is enough! You mustn't go accusing an innocent child just because of all that's happened!"

Elsa and Anna's eyes both narrowed into thin slits upon hearing what the king of Dunbroch had just called Jack and Emma, but they did have to admit that they did appreciate what the Scottish queen had said in defense of their small ward. Before they could say anything, however, Emma was poking her head out from behind both of them to throw Fergus a brave scowl.

"I'm no monster! I'm completely ordinary, _your majesty!"_ she growled. "And my big brother is no ice-beast!"

"Yeah! Emma's perfectly normal!"

"Normal! Normal! Normal!"

"She's our friend!"

"D-Don't yell at her!"

"She is—"

"—not a monster!"

"And that goes double for her brother!"

Heads turned as Emma's small group of servant friends quickly ran forward to circle protectively around her, each one of them glaring hatefully at King Fergus for daring to call the girl that they had all been friends with all their lives a despicable monster. Their parents, in particular Olivia Bennett, all rushed forward to try and drag the boys and girls away so that they wouldn't get themselves involved in this any further, but Jamie and his kid sister Sophie, Caleb and Claude, Pippa, Monty, and Cupcake wouldn't allow themselves to be steered away. Emma was their friend. They would gladly stand beside her and defend her from these mean foreign country leaders.

Fergus and Stoick had matching scowls on their faces, but before they or any of the children could say anything further, Elsa took a single step forward to draw all eyes to her.

"I may not have stated my feelings on everything that just occurred quite like that, but Emma and the other children are correct, King Fergus, Chief Stoick," she said pointedly in a regal tone. "Emma is a completely ordinary little girl, and her older brother Jack is certainly _not_ an ice-beast!"

"Not a beast?!" snapped the raging Viking chief. "He blasted that beam of ice at all of us up there on the steps!"

"He nearly killed us!" shouted out the king of Dunbroch in a rare moment of agreement.

"Dad, that seems more like an exaggeration, really," Princess Merida interjected as she stepped forward. "That servant lad was screaming at all of us to stay back. I don't think he was trying to hurt us."

Hiccup nodded approvingly at what the Scottish princess said, but his attention was elsewhere. He kept looking out nervously toward the open courtyard gates, where he could catch a glimpse of the dark evergreen forest in the distance. It was clear to his fellow Viking friends that the auburn-haired boy was more concerned about his secret dragon pal he'd hidden out there earlier this morning and the change in the weather than seriously thinking about this conversation.

"I… I think Princess Merida is right, Dad," he said to Stoick. "I saw the look on his face when he screamed that. Jack looked scared. Confused… Not angry or murderous!"

"But he's still dangerous!" protested Lord Malcom, making Lords Ewan and Duncan nod along with his words. "He almost killed our king!"

"With all due respect, Lord Malcom, King Fergus and Chief Stoick just slipped on ice!" Anna pointed out.

"It was still _his_ ice, though," said Gobber. "And in all honesty, King Fergus and Stoick slipping on that boy's ice doesn't at all compare to what he did to that Coronan guard!"

He jabbed his wooden arm in the direction of the guard that Jack had accidently froze the legs of and that many of the other Coronan guards were still working on chipping away the ice with their swords to free him.

Rapunzel glared at the burly blonde Viking. "It's not your place to bring that up, Lord Gobber!" she declared. "That is the Captain of the Coronan royal guard, so that makes it my family's place to argue about that! But you don't see myself, my parents, or Eugene bringing that up!"

Astrid raised a brow at that. "Wait, hold up. Are you saying you don't care in the slightest that that ice boy almost killed one of your guards?"

Rapunzel clamped up at that, not quite sure how to respond, but that was when Eugene jumped in.

"Personally, Lady Astrid, I think it's rather funny that our Captain of the Guard was frozen like that considering he and I don't usually get along. But the way in which he was frozen doesn't make me think that that servant boy was trying to hurt him at all, or at least if he was, it looked to me like it was self-defense! The guy was charging towards him with his sword drawn!"

Elsa nodded at once. There was no doubt at all in her mind that Eugene was quite right about that. "My sister and I have known Jack all our lives! He's quiet and keeps to himself, but he would never intentionally hurt anybody! That was simply an accident! He was scared!"

"My big brother is a good person! He's a good person!" Emma piped up again, making all the adults look back at her again. "He's not a monster! He's _not!"_

The Coronan queen stepped forward at that. "I do not believe that Jack should be what we are worrying about at this present time," she declared, surprising everyone there.

But no one was more surprised than her husband. "Arianna?" questioned a thoroughly puzzled King Frederic.

"Winter or no winter, that boy wasn't trying to be a threat," Arianna explained. "He should be a secondary concern at this time. I'm much more worried about that strange man in black that _deliberately_ attacked all of us after that boy ran off!"

The three sons of the Scottish lords shared a contemplative look, and then shrugged amongst themselves.

"Maybe the Coronan queen is right… I mean, sure Jack seemingly decided to make it snow all of the sudden in the middle of summer, but he just ran away. I don't think he's as big a problem right now compared to that guy with those black horses…" Ryan mused.

"Bit fit if Jack is working wi the Shadow Man. Ah think they are baith equally dangerous," Alan said in a whirl of frenetic Doric.

"I'm… I'm not sure if I got all that, Alan, but if you said that you think that both of them are a threat, I gotta disagree. Like Prince Hiccup said before, that servant kid looked scared. But that Shadow Guy? He looked almost happy to see all of us afraid before…" said Wee.

"Again, I'm not a prince, but you and Ryan are right," said Hiccup. "Jack might have caused this weird weather, but I doubt he had anything to do with that man in black…"

The other Viking teens nodded in agreement with what the leader of their friend group said, but that was when Emma stomped forward from around Elsa and Anna.

"There shouldn't be any doubts at all! Big Brother never had anything to do with a guy like that!" she snapped. "He's always locked up in his bedroom whenever he doesn't do work around the castle, and he never talks to anyone! There's no way Jack would have ever met and planned to hurt people with someone mean like that! We have to go and get him! That evil man could hurt him! Queen Elsa! Tell everyone that we have to go get him!"

It took all the willpower that Elsa possessed to not become overly tense at Emma's words. She was the queen of Arendelle now, and it wasn't just Jack she had to focus on in this crisis anymore. Now that there was also some sort of evil, mysterious Shadow Man launching strange attacks on the country, she had to try and figure out who he was first and what he wanted with her people before she could worry about Jack. She didn't want to just forget about Jack considering she had known him all her life and that his powers over ice and snow had seemingly caused a drastic change in the weather, but like her aunt had said, he had to be a secondary concern at this time.

The question was, how could she explain this in a way that Emma would understand and not be angry with her?

She took a deep breath, and then bent down a bit so that she was at Emma's level. "Emma… let's not get carried away, all right? There are many things that need to be discussed right now."

"But… But you promised me, your majesty! You promised me that after we came back here to the square that you wouldn't let my big brother run away like he did! That bad man went into the mountains after Jack! We gotta go find him! That Shadow Man might do something bad to him!"

Elsa's insides twisted up into tight knots as she mentally cursed herself. Technically, Emma was correct about that. She did promise the little girl that after she talked things over with the other foreign leaders, she would do something in regards to Jack. Why oh why did she make Emma a promise like that? Despite personal feelings towards her and Jack, Elsa had to break that promise now.

"Emma… I'm really sorry. Something will be done about Jack soon, but right now… right now we have to think about the good of Arendelle, not Jack…"

Emma's eyes watered with unshed tears, but then she glared hatefully at the new queen, and the hand that was clutching Jack's white glove tightly in its fist started to shake with suppressed fury.

"It's my brother out there! You'd send someone out there if it was for Anna, wouldn't you?!" she screamed.

People full out stared at the sight of the little servant girl screaming at the new queen, but Emma didn't care. She was too angry to care that she was causing a scene and all but humiliating Elsa, who looked rather uncomfortable right now as she had a hysterical child on her hands.

"Emma… that's not fair," Elsa deflected in the kindest tone that she could muster. "I… Well, I—"

But Emma didn't wait to hear anymore. She had heard enough. With one last final scowl, the little dark-haired girl blinked away another wave of angry tears, tore off the purple cape Elsa had given her earlier to stay warm after the sudden change in the weather, and then spun on her heel and stormed away from the gathering of royals and nobles to shove her way through the crowd, heading in the direction of the castle. The adults all sighed, but they still let her go. It was better in their opinion that the child was out of the way. Everything that was happening with Jack was personal for her, so it was better if she wasn't involved.

The children, on the other hand, all chased after her. Even the three small princes of Dunbroch.

"Emma! Hey, wait up!" Jamie called out as he and the other kids followed her.

"Wait up! Wait up! Wait up!" said little Sophie, her pudgy little toddler legs moving at top speed to be able to keep up with the rest of the group.

But Emma ignored her best friend and continued to shove her way through the mob of bodies all watching the other royals and nobles argue amongst themselves, all the while clutching her brother's glove tightly in her hand to make sure she didn't somehow lose it.

"Where are you going?" asked Pippa.

"S-Slow down!" pleaded Monty.

"We get you're mad—"

"—but Queen Elsa and Princess Anna won't just forget about your brother!" said Caleb and Claude hurriedly together.

"Yeah! The queen and the princess are friends with Jack! They'll send someone after him!" Cupcake said in an assuring voice.

"Well, they better do it soon."

"We can't speak for the other monarchs and nobles, but our dad didn't seem too happy about your brother's magic."

"Speaking from personal experience, if our dad sees something out of the ordinary, he squashes it like a bug."

The princes Hamish, Hubert, and Harris all said this rather nonchalantly, but then they were slapped upside the head by the other kids.

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

"Stop hitting us!"

"Will you three be quiet?! That's the last thing you guys should be telling Emma right now!" Jamie snapped.

The princes all stuck out their tongues simultaneously in reply to what the unofficial ringleader of the servant children said to them, but then all the kids realized just where Emma was furiously trudging towards, and every thought that wasn't of confusion and shock immediately blew right out of their heads.

She was stomping her way towards the Arendelle castle stables.

The kids all had to blink twice when they realized where she was heading, and then they exchanged puzzled looks amongst themselves before running to catch up to her as she hurried to slip inside the slightly opened door that led into the barn.

Jamie and the others all poked their heads inside in time to see their friend struggling to heave a rather heavy dark brown leather English saddle off a wall, dump it on the ground before snatching a matching set of reins off the wall as well before throwing it down beside the saddle, and then marching in the direction of the horse stalls.

"Emma! What are you doing?!" Cupcake gasped as she and the other kids all rushed inside the stables, making sure to shut the door behind them so that no one outside would see what their friend was doing.

In one quick rush of movement, Emma whirled around and glared coldly at all her friends.

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" she snapped. "I'm getting ready to saddle up a horse!"

Monty blinked. "Why…?" he asked nervously.

"What do you think?! If Queen Elsa and Princess Anna aren't going to do anything for Jackie, then I am! I'm going out there to look for him!"

"What?!"

"You can't be serious!"

Caleb and Claude's voices were filled with unquestionable shock, but Emma was not at all deterred. What she and all the other kids were unaware of though, was that there were two other sets of ears in the barn that heard and understood what it was they were listening to, and the two beings exchanged looks of surprise before focusing all their attention on the group of kids that had come uninvited into the stables. In the case of one of these eavesdroppers, he crept carefully forward to try and sneak out of the barn to alert his best friend of what this one little girl was planning, being mindful to not make his presence known to any the children so that they wouldn't try to stop him.

Emma huffed in exasperation as she folded her arms across her chest. "Does it look like I'm joking?! Jack's my only brother! It's my fault he got mad and showed his ice to everyone! He left because of me! If the queen and the princess won't send people out there after him, then I'm going!"

"How exactly do you intend to find him, Emma?" Jamie questioned as he clutched his little sister's hand. Unlike the others, he didn't sound shocked by her choice to go out into the woods after Jack. If anything, he seemed puzzled by her decision. "None of us have ever left the castle before, let alone the city itself! You plan to go out there into the woods with just a horse while it's snowing outside? In the middle of summer, no less?"

"Summer! Summer! Summer!" chirped Sophie repeatedly.

Emma firmly nodded. "I know it sounds stupid… but how would you feel if it were Sophie who ran away, Jamie?! Caleb and Claude! What if it was one of you?! Hamish, Hubert, and Harris! Wouldn't you go out there if it was for one of you or your big sister?! I know that this doesn't make sense to you guys, Monty, Pippa, Cupcake… but siblings look out for one another!"

Her words struck a chord in everyone. It was true that three of them were single children and they therefore didn't understand the unconditional love that existed between siblings, but in the case of the others, they had to admit that Emma had a valid point. If one of them had a sibling that seemingly ran away from home and could unknowingly be walking straight into a very dangerous situation, wouldn't they be doing the same thing that she was?

It was a very difficult decision, pondering whether or not they should support or help Emma in this risky endeavor of going out into the world in search of Jack, or try to stop her from doing this by running outside to tell the adults what was going on.

"Jack's my only brother! The only family I have left! I'm not staying in this castle safe and sound while that Shadow Man is out there looking for him!"

And with that, she spun back around on her heel, and was about to continue stomping her way down the aisle in search of a horse she could 'borrow' for this dangerous task, but then she tripped, and went tumbling down face first onto the hay strewn ground, the white glove slipping right out of her hand and falling a few inches in front of her.

Everyone started to rush forward to check and see whether or not she was okay, but they all stopped short when they heard what sounded like a mixture of high-pitched chittering coming from somewhere underneath her.

"Emma…?" Pippa questioned, sounding completely befuddled by what she was hearing.

Emma slowly sat up, but even when she did so, the chittering continued, and everyone saw firsthand that Emma wasn't the one making the strange sound. If anything, she looked just as confused as they were by the squeaking noise. She got down on her hands and knees, grabbed Jack's white glove first and foremost, and started to crawl around to try and find the source of the mysterious sound. But then her hand came in contact with something that was soft and squishy on the ground even though when she set it down, her hand was supposed to touch the regular floor of the barn.

"Eek!" Emma squealed, instantly recoiling for a moment. The other kids all gathered around her in time to see what appeared to be a piece of hay-covered ground darting rapidly towards the entrance of the stables to try and escape.

"Catch that thing! Don't let it escape!" Jamie ordered.

The servant children tried to listen to his command, but they all just ended up whacking into each other in their haste to try and catch the strange bit of moving floor.

But the young princes of Dunbroch were much more agile in trying to corner this unusual creature, and without even needing to speak to each, the three brothers sprang into action.

Hamish ran to shut the stable doors to prevent the small thing from escaping.

Hubert cornered the weird creature in between himself and the now shut doors.

Harris dumped out the contents of grain in some type of animal feeder, and then scrambled towards his two older triplet brothers before slamming it down over the mysterious thing, effectively trapping the unknown animal inside.

"Ha! Got it!" said the youngest prince triumphantly.

"Great job, Harris!"

"That's our little brother!"

His two fellow triplets whooped for joy as they happily jumped up and down in excitement, but the other kids hurried to gather around them so they could catch a glimpse of the tiny thing that the princes had manage to corner.

"Harris, lift up the feeder slowly," said Jamie. "Let's see what it is!"

"Let's see! Let's see! Let's see!" his sister mimicked with a cheerful smile.

The youngest prince was happy to oblige. Sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth while keeping one of his hands at the ready in case the strange little animal inside tried to flee again, he slowly raised up the animal feeder, and everyone gazed curiously down at the animal that had been inside.

On the ground was a small, quivering brown creature that blended right in to the floor of the stable. It seemed to be shaking with fear, but it was also seemingly searching for a way to zip right out between all the children's legs to make a break for it. It needed to find a way out of the barn since one of the princes had shut the barn doors so that it could alert its best human friend as to what the little dark-haired girl was planning to do.

Speaking of Emma, she was the only one out of all the kids that dared to pick up the tiny brown animal by its body and hold it up in the palm of her hand so that they could all get a better look at it.

"It's tiny!" she commented, examining the little animal from head to toe with curious eyes.

"What is it? A rat?" asked Monty.

As though the animal understood what it was the blonde boy with red glasses had just said, the little creature started squeaking furiously in Monty's direction while flicking out its long, slimy pink tongue in the boy's direction.

"Eek!" Monty yelped, backing away from the little animal in Emma's hands rather nervously.

The tiny creature almost seemed to smirk triumphantly at Monty's retreat, but the other kids only became even more mystified by its presence now.

"It's smiling! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that it can understand us!" said Cupcake in wonder.

"Forget the smile! Did you see that tongue?!"

"It was so long and slimy! It has to be some kind of reptile!"

The dark-skinned twins grinned matching grins before high-fiving each other as the others all nodded in agreement. This little animal was obviously a reptile judging by that tongue, but what kind?

Curiously, Jamie took the little reptile from Emma, and looked it over with great interest.

"Maybe it's some type of frog?" he guessed. "I know that there are some types of frogs that are brown…"

The reptile didn't seem to like that suggestion, as although none of the kids here knew this, it was tired of being teasingly called a frog by its mistress's fiancé on a daily basis, and it spun around in Jamie's hand to hiss angrily at the little boy.

"Okay, not a frog!" Pippa said hurriedly. _"Definitely_ not a frog!"

"Of course it's not! It's a lizard!"

"No way! It's a salamander!"

"You're both wrong, Hamish, Hubert! It's gotta be a newt!"

The three princes of Dunbroch grinned from ear to ear at their guesses, but the reptile in question didn't appreciate all the wrong guesses being thrown out into the open about what he was. With one last angry chitter, the creature changed from a shade of murky brown to a vicious scarlet color before hopping out of Jamie's hand to land on top of Emma's shoulder and settling back into its usual coloring of beautiful emerald green.

Emma's eyes sparkled happily as she gently stroked the reptile's head with her free hand. "Oh! How neat! It's a chameleon!" she exclaimed.

"A chameleon?" Jamie repeated, he and the other kids blinking twice as they observed the little green reptile. "I didn't know there were chameleons in Arendelle!"

"There aren't," said Monty, quickly adjusting his red spectacles to keep his glasses from sliding down the bridge of his nose. "None of them live in Norway. It must have come here aboard one of the foreign nobles' ships."

"Well, it didn't come from Dunbroch," said Hubert at once. "Chameleons aren't native to the Highlands. Trust me, me, Hamish, and Harris would know if they were."

As the kids all began to murmur out their suggestions as to where the little green chameleon could have possibly come from, the said creature, whose name was really Pascal, kept searching about anxiously for a way to get away from these kids. He had to find a way out of this barn and tell his mistress and friend, the Princess Rapunzel, what was happening. Pascal was very fond of children, but this little girl was going to get herself killed if she went through with her plan. He had to find a way to get out of this barn and find Rapunzel!

Before the brave little chameleon could do anything, however, Emma was suddenly gathering him up off her shoulder and was snuggling him against her cheek.

"I like him! I'm keeping him for a pet! I'm gonna call him Piku!" she announced.

The other kids all shrugged at her declaration, but Pascal's eyes went wide. No! No, no, no! No way! He already had an owner! He had been Rapunzel's friend for years! Before she had realized that she was the Lost Princess of Corona and had still been unknowingly imprisoned by Mother Gothel up in a hidden tower in the middle of the Coronan forests just outside the capitol city! He would not betray his best friend! He was definitely _not_ going to be made this little girl's pet and be given the name Piku! What kind of name was Piku anyway?! Pascal was a name that was a thousand times better than _that!_

Within seconds, the little green chameleon was leaping out of her hands and making a desperate dash towards his fellow companion who was watching all this happen from the stall he had been locked in by his owner several hours earlier.

"Hey! Piku! Wait!" cried out Emma pleadingly.

But Pascal did not wait up. He was already Rapunzel's friend and pet. He did not doubt that little Emma was a good girl, even if a little dumb to decide to go out into the world when it was snowing outside to look for her missing older brother, but he was not going to let her become his new owner.

Unfortunately for the little chameleon, he was quickly grabbed by tiny Sophie's small hands when the little three-year-old darted forward to grab hold of the little reptile as he scurried past her.

Pascal squeaked in panic and frantically tried to escape from the tight grip the little blonde-haired girl had around his small body. But Sophie's grasp around his body was surprisingly firm, and she giggled cutely as she watched the reptile desperately try to wiggle out of her small fist.

"Piku! Piku! Piku!" she laughed, waving her hand with Pascal in it around, not even noticing as she did so that the little green chameleon was becoming slightly dizzy from her antics. "Me like Piku!"

The others all laughed. Especially Emma.

"Yeah, I like Piku, too," the Overland girl agreed with an enthusiastic nod. "Can I have Piku back now, Sophie? He's my pet."

"'Kay! Here Emma!"

Sophie toddled back over to Emma and happily passed Pascal back over to Emma, but the moment she released the chameleon onto Emma's open palm, Pascal immediately tried to scamper off again. But Emma was ready for him this time, and before he could take more than one step, Emma quickly squeezed her hand around Pascal's body. Not enough to hurt her so-called new pet, but enough to make sure he couldn't run away from her this time.

"No, no, no, Piku! Don't run away from me!" Emma said with a small giggle. "You don't have to worry! I'll take good care of you! We'll be best friends from now on! In fact, you can come with me right now! I'm going on a mission to find my big brother! He has ice and snow powers I didn't know about, and he accidentally made it start snowing outside when he ran away from Queen Elsa's coronation party! I know Jackie's a good person, even if he is quiet… I just got mad at him at the party! It's my fault what happened, so I have to go out there after him! You can help me look for him, Piku! It'd be nice to have someone to talk to while I look for Big Brother!"

Pascal frantically shook his head in return. He did not wish to go anywhere with Emma. He didn't mind going on an adventure with Rapunzel three years ago when she met Eugene, because Rapunzel was his friend and she had been dreaming of leaving her tower to see the 'floating lights' that appeared in the night sky only on her birthday for as long as either of them could remember. But Pascal didn't know Emma. She was nice, but she wasn't Rapunzel. Pascal had no intention of going anywhere with her, and he continued to fruitlessly struggle against the firm grip that she had around his small green body.

"Looks like Piku wants to get away," noted Cupcake.

"Maybe you should just let it go, Emma," suggested Jamie. "If it doesn't want to stay, we shouldn't force it to."

Pascal frantically nodded his small head at that suggestion, but Emma scowled as she hurriedly shook her head and clutched his tiny green body close to her heart.

"No way! Piku just needs to get used to me, that's all! I'm keeping him!"

Her words earned more desperate chirps from the small chameleon, which the little girl ignored. But they also earned the furiously angry neighs from the white horse that Pascal had been with prior to being captured by Emma and the other kids. The suddenness of the angry whinnying caught all the children by surprise, and they all quickly whirled around.

Princess Rapunzel's noble steed, the beautiful white stallion known as Maximus, was whinnying and neighing heatedly at the children – or rather Emma in particular – as he struggled to try and kick the door to his stall open so he would be able to rescue his princess's best friend in the world. To Maximus, who was used to tracking down criminals on a daily basis prior to first meeting Rapunzel three years ago, what this little girl was doing bordered on the line of possible kidnap. Granted, Emma had no clue that 'Piku' was really Pascal, his princess's pet, but either way, she was still technically trying to take Pascal against Pascal's will. And in the horse's book, that constituted as kidnap. He had to get out of this stupid pen and somehow get Pascal away from this ignorant child!

But to Emma and the others, Maximus's actions were nothing short of being both utterly random and very dangerous.

"Yikes! Whose horse is that?!"

"Is it even tame?! It looks wild!"

Caleb and Claude's words just about verbalized what all of them were thinking, and the kids all nodded in agreement as they hastily backed away from the mad horse that was still furiously kicking his pen doors with his back legs.

Emma was staring wide-eyed and with slight fear at Maximus, and she couldn't help but cringe away from him a bit as she continued to clutch Pascal close to her chest. "I'm definitely _not_ taking that horse," she said firmly. "He'll probably buck me off at the first opportunity!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Jamie agreed, his own eyes as wide as saucers as he slowly nodded to what she said, even though he wasn't exactly looking at her. "That horse would probably kill you first before that Shadow Man does!"

"You should take Big Sis's horse!"

"Yeah, Angus is great!"

"He can be a bit temperamental at times, but unlike _that_ horse, he's quite tame!"

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris all beamed at their own words before motioning for the Arendelle servant children to follow them deeper inside the barn. Since Emma couldn't risk letting go of Pascal right now for fear that he would bolt away should she loosen her grip on him for even a moment, she slowly led the group in following the young Dunbroch princes further down the aisle of horse stalls in the stables, leaving the enraged Maximus behind as he continued to try and kick open his pen doors so he could save Pascal from them.

The princes were chuckling amongst themselves as they considered what it was they were basically giving Emma permission to do. They knew for a fact that their sister was going to be beyond furious with them, but Hamish, Hubert, and Harris didn't care one bit. This was for one of their new friends, and the heavens knew that other than their sister and by slight extension the other Dunbroch clan heirs, the three of them didn't have any friends other than each other back in the Highlands. Meeting kids near their own age like Emma, Jamie, Sophie, Caleb and Claude, Monty, Pippa, and Cupcake here over the course of this visit had been a stroke of good luck for the three redheaded boys, and despite the accident that they made with the cake back up in the ballroom that nearly got all of them into a load of trouble, the princes happened to value their newfound friendship with Emma and the others more than anything. Who cared if Merida screamed her head off at them later after she discovered that Angus was missing and that it was because they told Emma it was all right for her to ride him during her search for Jack? Emma was one of their new friends, and that therefore made it their duty to try and help her however they could.

As the children all trudged along after the Scottish princes through the stables, Emma hurried forward a bit so she could be walking alongside Hamish, Hubert, and Harris rather than following behind them.

"So, your older sister likes horses?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah! She loves Angus more than anything!" said Hamish with an enthusiastic grin. "If she had her way, she would gladly abdicate the throne just to live like a commoner so she could spend all her free time with him without having to worry about princess lessons!"

His words stunned all the Arendelle children. "She'd rather be a peasant than a princess?!" asked Pippa with clear shock.

"Definitely. Miss-Merry-Must-Marry hates being a princess. Especially a crown princess," stated Harris. "She'd take living like one of the common folk in their simple houses back in Dunbroch over living in our stone castle any day."

"Uh-huh. If our Mum tells Big Sis that she can have a day off from princess lessons, she won't run, she'll _bolt_ to her room to grab her bow and arrows, and then take off on Angus for a day out in the forests of our kingdom, shooting at targets she's set up. She loves to ride and shoot with her bow."

"Well, which horse is Angus then?" asked Monty. "There are a lot of new horses in the barn, what with visitors bringing their horses with them. Which one of them belongs to Princess Merida?"

"That one!" said the triplets in perfect unison as they all pointed at one stall straight ahead before picking up the pace so they could go and stroke the mane of their sister's pet.

Even though Angus was technically Merida's horse, she had allowed her three brothers to take turns learning how to ride horses by giving them lessons atop Angus this past year. After all three of them had been forced to ride with their sister on Angus in order to stop their father from unknowingly killing their mother during the magical bear debacle, Merida felt it was necessary that her brothers learned how to ride. They were just about the same age she had been when their father taught her, after all. Fergus heartily agreed with his daughter, and even though Elinor had obviously been worried for Hamish, Hubert, and Harris's safety, she consented to it as well. After everything that had happened with the bear incident, she did admit that it was necessary for her three youngest children to learn how to ride and – under careful instruction of their father and to some extent Merida – learn how to fight, too. The triplets had lots of fun learning basic swordplay from their father and archery from their older sister, but they loved horseback riding the best. When they grew up, the three of them had every intention of becoming the best horseback riders in all the Highlands! And that was a promise!

Emma, Jamie, Sophie, Caleb and Claude, Pippa, Monty, and Cupcake all looked away from Hamish, Hubert, and Harris to gaze up ahead of them at the horse in the stall that the three brothers were all gesturing towards, but then they all went wide-eyed with surprise.

Angus was a Shire horse that was as black as the summer night sky. He had coal black eyes, an ivory white muzzle and matching fetlocks, and a silky soft ebony black mane and tail. He was a handsome horse, no question, but he was also enormous! Unlike the white Coronan stallion Maximus who was full grown but still not too big, Angus completely towered over the eight small children that hesitantly stepped forward to join the three princes in moving closer to his horse stall so they could get a better look at him. While Angus was undoubtedly strong and would serve a person well for a long-distance journey such as the one that Emma needed to make to find her runaway older brother, his size understandably intimidated all the young servant children.

Emma especially as she was the one who would have to ride him all by herself.

" _T-That's_ Angus?!" she gasped, fidgeting a little in place as she gazed nervously at the massive black horse. "That's… That's the horse you three think I should take?!"

The princes all nodded.

"Uh-huh!"

"He's great, isn't he?"

"Best horse in the whole world! You can count on him to take care of you while you look for Jack, Emma!"

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris all grinned from ear-to-ear at their newfound friends, but their smiles all slowly faded away when they realized that none of the other kids were looking at Angus with admiration on their faces.

"You three have got to be joking!"

"He's… He's too big!"

"Too big…"

"He'll crush Emma!"

"If that horse bucks her off—"

"—Emma could get seriously hurt falling off him!"

"You've all lost your marbles if you think she's going to ride that animal!"

Emma nodded at what her friends had all said as she forced a glare on her face again.

"I am _not_ riding that horse," she declared in a strong, unwavering tone as she squeezed Jack's white glove tightly. "I don't have a death wish! He'll kill me if he chucks me off!"

The princes all blinked repeatedly when they heard what the others said, but after hearing Emma's resolute response, they all burst out laughing.

"What? Angus? No way!"

"Angus has never seriously injured anyone, honest! Sure, he occasionally bucks Big Sis off when they go riding, but never hard enough to seriously hurt her!"

"The worst that's ever happened while riding Angus is Big Sis ended up with a bruised foot because he accidentally set one of his hooves down on her! No biggie!"

Emma's eyes all but bulged out of her head when she heard that. "He's _bucked_ Princess Merida off and _stepped_ on her in the past?!" she repeated, thunderstruck. "You're all mad! No way am I going anywhere near him!"

"Yeah, that's goes double for the rest of us!" Jamie agreed, quickly shoving his toddler sister behind him so that she wouldn't get hurt from a possibly dangerous animal.

The others in their circle of friends all heartily nodded at what their ringleaders said, but the Dunbroch princes were completely unfazed.

"Well, Angus is a stallion at heart, so he likes to run fast," Hamish explained. "Merida likes to ride fast, so she's almost always okay with how fast he goes. But sometimes, Merida can be riding so fast into an area in the woods near our castle that Angus isn't okay with, and he'll go screeching to a stop."

"That's what causes him to throw her off. Our sister doesn't expect him to suddenly stop like that, so she falls," Hubert added. "For instance, there's the one magic area out in the forests back home that has this _enormous_ ring of stones with cool carvings on them! When Big Sis first found them, she was mad at our mum and went out riding Angus at top speed without really paying attention to where she was making Angus go. According to her, when she and Angus rode up to them and were about to enter the circle, Angus freaked and bucked her off just so he wouldn't enter the circle. She wasn't hurt, but that led to a whole other adventure. We'll tell you all about it sometime! It's actually a really awesome story looking back, what happened after that!"

"As for Angus stepping on Miss-Merry-Must-Marry's foot… that happened _years_ ago! We don't even fully remember what happened since we were really little when it happened, but our sister was acting stupid while tending to him. Our dad says that she was supposedly venting her frustrations with our mum about princess lessons to Angus, and she got so mad, she started yelling at the air without thinking about where she was. He got spooked by her tone and reared up in panic, and when he came down, he stepped on her foot by mistake. It was an accident, but all we really remember is that Merida had to stay in bed and keep her foot iced for two weeks. She was _so_ mad that it happened, but I think what made her even madder was that even though she was hurt, our mum simply moved princess lessons from the palace library to her bedroom."

The boys all grinned after explaining all this. While Jamie, Sophie, Monty, Caleb and Claude, Pippa, and Cupcake all looked a little bit more at ease now after hearing that, Emma was unmoved. And not that any of the kids there realized it, but Pascal had morphed from his usual shade of bright green to a murky, fearful yellow as he listened to Hamish, Hubert, and Harris's explanation for the injuries that Angus had been responsible for in the past.

"So you three are saying that you want me to knowingly get on a horse that doesn't like magic _and_ you all admit that it gets easily scared? My big brother who I'm about to go look for so-happens to _have_ magic ice and snow powers! And I have to find him before he runs into that Shadow Man! That horse will probably throw me off a cliff the second that the Shadow Man shows his face!"

Emma said this all with a rather satisfied look on her face, as though her reasoning was justified for not wanting to ride Angus, but upon hearing her answer, Hamish, Hubert, and Harris all scowled at her.

"Look, you've got three choices here!" Hamish snapped. "One, you forget this whole idea about going out into the wilderness and looking for your magical brother!"

Emma's eyes narrowed. "Not an option! Tonight was my fault! I pushed Jackie, so I'm the one who needs to go after him!"

"Two, you get on that insane and crazy white horse back at the front of the aisle that is _still_ trying to bust out of his stall after all this time!" Hubert brought up.

The others blinked, and then turned in place to verify if what the middle prince said was true or not. Sure enough, Maximus was indeed still trying to kick up his stall door with his back legs. Pascal was squeaking desperately at the white horse to hurry and save him, which Maximus responded to with encouraging whinnies. The stallion would get out of his pen in time and save the little green chameleon. Make no mistake about that.

Of course, the children didn't know that was the reason why the white horse was acting so wild right now, though. And they all instinctively cringed a bit as they watched him continue to try and break out of the small stall for a few moments before turning their attention back to the triplet princes of Dunbroch.

"I… I don't want to. That horse looks like it will bite my head off if I let it out of its stall to saddle it up…" Emma trailed off, sounding a little wary at the thought.

"Or three," Harris went on, a rather haughty look spreading quickly across his face. "You suck up your pride and take our sister's horse! He might be a bit wild, but he's fast! You wanna find your big brother before that weird Shadow Man does? Then get on Angus! He's faster than the wind! He'll get you to your big brother in no time flat!"

There was a long pause as everyone stared expectantly at Emma, who seemed to be at a total loss as to what she should do. She stared back and forth between the hot-tempered Maximus who was neighing furiously at the group – or rather at Pascal in particular to which the little reptile was frantically answering back with desperate chirps – and then at the gigantic Angus who was waiting patiently in his stall for one of the kids to be kind enough to start petting him again and perhaps feed him some delicious oats.

Finally, Emma looked back up at the three redheaded troublemakers and nodded firmly.

"Help me get him saddled!" she declared.

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris whooped for joy, but Jamie and the others all gazed at Emma worriedly.

"Are you sure about this, Emma?" Jamie asked. "I know I don't want you to ride that crazy white horse back there, but getting on a horse that bucks people off and even steps on them? That doesn't sound much better to me…"

"I don't have any other choice, Jamie," she countered. "Every second I waste here means one more second that Jack runs farther and farther away from the city, and that Shadow Man could find him! I have to take the fastest horse available!"

The little girl didn't wait for any sort of a reply after that. She simply thrusted Jack's glove and Pascal-dubbed-Piku the Chameleon back into Sophie's hands to hold for a moment before dashing back down the aisle to retrieve the reins she had brought out earlier, and then ran back to all of them to dump them at their feet. She tried to do the same thing with the saddle, but because the leather item was so heavy, she was forced to huff and puff in exertion as she struggled to drag it down the row of horse stalls back to where everyone was waiting. Eventually, it became obvious to all the kids that Emma was taking far too long to drag the saddle herself, so Pippa, Cupcake, and Monty all ran over to help her out.

"We all pick it up on the count of three," Pippa offered.

Emma, Cupcake, and Monty all nodded at that wise suggestion.

"Okay then… One… Two… Three!"

At that final word, the three girls and the one boy summoned forth all the strength they possessed to try and get the heavy saddle off the ground, and they slowly heaved it the rest of the way down the aisle, grunting and groaning from the cumbersome weight of the heavy riding tool, to where the others were still waiting for them near Angus.

When they finally reached them, the quartet dropped the saddle to the ground with a resounding loud thud, and they all slumped forward a bit to hold onto their knees as they panted hard from the exertion of carrying the heavy piece of brown leather.

"Wow… I never realized those things could be so heavy!" Cupcake groaned.

"Yeah, now I get why the adults never let us near them whenever we pop in here…" said Monty, pushing his red-rimmed lenses closer to his face to keep them from slipping down the bridge of his nose. "We'd probably drop them right on our feet if we tried carrying them by ourselves…"

His words caused Hamish, Hubert, and Harris to blink repeatedly, and then all three heads immediately turned to look at Emma.

"Hey now, you _do_ know how to ride, right?"

"We want to help, but we can't in good conscious let you borrow Angus if you can't."

"We trust him not to throw you on purpose, but if you don't know how to ride horses, he _could_ be too wild to control."

Emma huffed in annoyance. "We're servant children! We've all ridden the horses here a couple of times, but only once in a while! Our parents or the stable hands here have to keep an eye on us whenever we do so we don't get hurt, but we don't get to ride everyday if we want! I'm in between being a beginner and somewhat experienced rider… I can't jump over stuff, but I know how to make a horse trot and stop!"

The Dunbroch princes were silent for a moment as they seemed to have a silent conversation amongst themselves while gazing at each other with unreadable expressions. Then they finally turned back to Emma and shrugged.

"That's good enough, I guess. Just if you promise you know the basics," said Hamish.

"I do. I swear."

"Then let's hurry and get Angus saddled up!" Harris cheered.

"Yeah, if we wait any longer, someone might come in and stop us!" Hubert added.

Apart from Sophie, who was much too young to do anything and instead stood off to the sidelines as she cuddled a certain green reptile close to her chest and held onto the important white glove, all the kids worked together to coax the large Shire horse out of his stall and get him ready for travel, fixing the saddle onto his back and slipping the bridle over his head. Angus was a little frisky, slowly realizing that one of these kids wanted to ride him instead of his usual rider, his friend Merida, but kind pats to the neck from the triplets easily calmed him down. Hamish, Hubert, and Harris were Merida's little brothers, and if they trusted these children, then Angus would give whichever child that wanted to ride him the benefit of the doubt. The boys were mischievous troublemakers, but they would never intentionally do something really bad to him.

After all, they all knew for a fact that Merida wouldn't hesitate to use them for target practice with her bow and arrows should she find out that they were responsible for anything bad happening to him.

As soon as Angus was all set, Emma smiled with delight.

"All right! I'm ready!"

"Wait! Grab a cloak first! It's cold out there!"

Heads turned as Jamie scrambled to snatch a small green travel cloak off a hook on one of the walls, and then rushed to give it to Emma.

Emma smiled as she accepted the warm garment. "Oh! Thanks, Jamie! I almost forgot about that!"

"Sure, no problem at all, Emma!" said the Bennett boy happily in return.

As Emma hurried to pin the cloak on over her green servant uniform, she turned a bit to look over at Sophie.

"Can you give Piku and Big Brother's glove back to me now, Sophie? Like I said before, Piku's gonna be my traveling companion while I look for Jackie, and that glove is all I have left of him right now!"

Her words made Pascal squeak and squirm as hard as he could to try and get out of Sophie's grip and Maximus whinnied twice as loud as he continued to pound his stall door with his back legs in a great frenzy, but little Sophie just giggled cutely nodded before giving the chameleon and the white glove back to Emma.

"I like Piku! I'm gonna miss him while you're gone!" said the small toddler with a toothy smile.

Her words made Emma giggle too as she gave the little blonde-haired girl a small one-armed hug with the hand that was clutching her glove since the other one was holding onto the still desperately trying to escape Pascal.

"You'll miss him, but not me? That hurts, you know!" Emma teased.

The kids all laughed a bit at that, but they didn't get the chance to say anything further, because after that, Emma set Pascal down on her shoulder and stuffed her brother's white glove into her cloak's pocket before approaching Angus. She put one foot into one of the saddle's stirrups and tried to pull herself up onto his body, but she was much too short, and could really only hop up and down repeatedly on one foot as she tried to climb on top of him.

"Here! Hang on a sec, Emma!"

"We'll help you!"

Caleb and Claude both stepped forward and worked together to give Emma a boost up onto Angus's back.

As soon as she was situated fully onto Angus's back, Pascal made one last attempt to try and get away. With a panicky chirp, the chameleon made a mad dash off Emma's shoulder towards the back of Angus's body so he could leap off the black Shire horse. But unfortunately for Pascal, Emma's quickly spun around and grabbed him before he could successfully jump to freedom.

"Piku! You've got to stop trying to run away from me! You're my pet from now on! Here! You can stay in here until we get out of Arendelle! I don't want you to fall off Angus while we ride out of here!"

Pascal blinked, but before he could make a nervous, curious squeak as to what Emma was talking about, Emma fiddle about with the edge of her green cloak for a moment until she found the pocket again, and then tucked Pascal away inside to sit on top of the scrunched up white silk glove.

Small Pascal was powerless to resist, and was really only capable of making desperate squeaks over his green shoulder at Maximus to hurry up and save him as Emma packed him away into her pocket. Maximus whinnied back that he was trying to hurry, but the Coronan stallion's efforts were no use. The stall doors remained firmly locked no matter how hard he tried to bust them open.

The kids continued to ignore Maximus, though, and they instead crowded around Emma on top of Angus.

"I know you said that you want to look for Jack, Emma, but are you sure about this?"

"The mountains are dangerous! Especially during winter!"

"What if you get lost?"

"And there are bears—"

"—and wolves out there!"

"Wolves! Wolves! Wolves!"

"And are you sure you can trust Jack? We don't want you getting hurt…"

That last question made Emma blink. She almost looked as though she was confused by the question.

"He's my big brother. He would _never_ hurt me!" she said in a rather matter of fact way. "Believe in me, and believe in Jackie, too! He's a good person! I know he is!"

Jamie and the others still looked a little nervous at the prospect that Emma was heading out on her own with only Angus and 'Piku' for company, but they still nodded. Emma was their friend, and if she believed that Jack wasn't a monster and was a good person, then they would too. She wasn't afraid of her brother despite finding out that he had strange ice and snow magic, so they shouldn't be either. They just needed to believe in both him and her!

So long as they believed that everything would be okay, it would!

Because the belief of a child was powered by many things:

The wonder of all things magical.

The hope for a better tomorrow.

The memories of a wonderful yesterday.

And the dreams of a perfect world.

So long as the three Dunbroch princes and the seven remaining Arendelle servant children in the castle believed that everything would be okay, it would be!

They were all still somewhat scared about the unusual winter Jack had made when he ran away and the evil Shadow Man that had attacked the city with those creepy black sand horses afterwards, but so long as they all believed in Emma, everything would turn out all right in the end!

They knew it would!

"All right, Emma. We believe in you, and if you say that Jack is a good person, then we believe it too! Right, everyone?" Jamie called out over his shoulder.

The others all smiled and made murmurs of agreement as they nodded.

Emma beamed. "Thanks, everybody! That means a lot! Now, I don't suppose one of you would be nice enough to open the stables doors for me? I gotta hurry up and ride out there to go look for my big brother!"

"Sure, Emma! No problem!"

"Give us one sec! We'll have those doors open in a jiffy!"

The dark-skinned twins raced down the aisle of stalls together to reach the barn doors, and then worked together to slide them open so that Emma could ride Angus out.

"Good luck out there, Emma!"

"We hope you find Jack!"

"Stay safe!"

"We know you can do it!"

Emma's smile became so big, it nearly split her face in two. "Thanks, everybody!" she said happily.

And with those final words, Emma glanced down a bit to look at the back of Angus's head, and then lightly kicked her small heels into his sides.

"Okay, Angus! Giddy up!" she commanded.

But Angus didn't move. Angus was so used to the amount of force that Merida used whenever she kicked his sides to get him to go or increase speed, that Emma's light kicks felt like nothing at all.

The group of kids all looked rather puzzled that Angus refused to move, but their expressions of confusion didn't hold a candle to the look of bewilderment on Emma's face.

"Hey, didn't you hear me, Angus? I said giddy up!" she said, kicking her heels a second time.

Again, Angus stayed right where he was.

Pascal poked his head out of Emma's cloak pocket, looking rather relieved by this turn of events. If the horse refused to move, then that meant Emma wouldn't leave Arendelle and he wouldn't be kidnapped and taken far away from Rapunzel.

But Emma didn't share the chameleon's thought process.

"Come on, Angus! Move!" she snapped with annoyance, kicking her heels into the Shire horse's sides a little bit harder than before.

Angus shook his head from side to side, but still didn't lift so much as a single hoof off the ground.

Emma growled, and then her head snapped around so she could glare at the princes.

"Hamish! Hubert! Harris! Why won't he move?! He's not obeying me!"

The triplets shrugged.

"How should we know?"

"Maybe kick him harder?"

"Let me give him a good slap on the rump! That should get him going!"

Harris stepped forward to do exactly as he suggested, but at the same moment that he gave the ebony black Shire horse a good firm smack to get him moving, Emma growled with fury and kicked her heels down into Angus's sides with all her might.

The effect of both these actions was instantaneous.

Between the harsh kick into his sides from Emma and the forceful slap on his bottom from Harris, Angus neighed loudly and reared up in panic. The other kids all yelped and instinctively jumped back from the alarmed horse, but Emma shrieked as she hurriedly grasped Angus's black mane to keep from falling off. Pascal was also squealing in complete terror as he nearly fell out of Emma's cloak pocket, only barely managing to keep from tumbling out by clinging onto the thin green material with his scaly green feet – not that anyone other than Maximus noticed this.

And then, before Emma or Pascal had any chance of trying to calm the obviously spooked horse, Angus came down from the unexpected rear, and then took off like a shot towards the open barn doors, Emma's screams of alarm trailing after her as the horse galloped out of the stables.

* * *

Elsa had been worried sick about Emma when she stormed away from her and Anna after the queen had to unfortunately tell the little girl that they couldn't just drop everything to go and look for Jack right now. It broke her heart to tell Emma that, but as the new queen of the country, Elsa had to look after the wellbeing of the majority of the population first and foremost before thinking about the wellbeing of Jack, her friend. If she wasn't the queen, Elsa wouldn't have hesitated to go out into the forest after Jack, but as she was the queen now, she had to look after the common people, and also try to pacify the quarreling foreign royals and nobles who were scared and angry about everything that had happened and were calling out for Jack's head on a spike.

It was harder than she could have imagined, staying cool and collected for such a long stretch of time as she dealt with all the cries of anger and fear from everyone, but with Anna by her side adding her own words of agreement to what she was saying, Elsa was positive that she could get things back under control.

Or at least she had been before a scream of terror erupted from somewhere in the palace stables, and a black blur suddenly shot out of it at a whizzing speed.

People shrieked with surprise as they all lunged to get out of the way of what had to be the largest black horse that Elsa had ever seen as it stampeded through the crowd, but their screams were nothing in comparison to the screams echoing from the mouth of the small child that was desperately clinging to the horse's neck to make sure she didn't fall off its back.

And the moment Elsa saw just which child it was that was riding the insane black horse, she lost all form of composure whatsoever.

" _Emma!"_ she shouted out in horror.

Anna gasped at hearing that, her eyes wide with shock as she and the other royals and nobles stared in disbelief as Emma rode right past them.

Emma didn't even look at Elsa or Anna as Angus galloped through the crowd. She was just desperately trying to stay balanced on the insane horse as it dashed toward the courtyard gates. It didn't matter to her if the queen and the princess were angry at her for doing this. They weren't going to do anything for her big brother. So it was up to her to find Jack. Nothing they said or did was going to stop what she had to do.

But Elsa and Anna weren't the only ones who were shocked by what they were witnessing.

In the case of the three prominent teens from the other major nations, they had their own reasons for wanting Emma to stop what she was attempting to do.

When Rapunzel first saw the little servant girl ride out of the Arendelle castle stables on top of the unknown, gigantic black horse, she had been shocked. Definitely shocked. In fact, she thought it was safe to say that her parents and Eugene had been shocked as well, judging by the flabbergasted expressions on their faces. Still though, she had the sense to realize that she shouldn't get involved in little Emma's apparent running away escapade.

Or at least, that was what she thought until she saw a familiar green creature chirping out desperately to her from the pocket of Emma's cloak as the black horse rode past everyone gathered around the two frozen fountains.

" _Pascal!"_ she screamed.

Her scream meant nothing to Emma, though, as the little girl had no idea who Pascal even was, and it therefore didn't register in her mind that the Coronan princess was referring to the small chameleon in her pocket that she had named Piku.

But what was shouted next she did understand, because it was the name of the horse she was riding.

" _That's my horse! Angus!"_ shouted Merida, her blue eyes alight with fury as she was physically restrained by her mother from running forward to try and block Angus from running any further. _"Get off my horse!"_

Emma cringed at the Scottish princess's words, but she didn't dare adjust her hands to grab hold of the reins to try and make Angus slow down and stop. She felt bad for doing this to Princess Merida, stealing her horse, but she had no other choice! Hamish, Hubert, and Harris had all promised her that Angus was the swiftest horse there was, and judging by how hard she was struggling right now just to stay on him because of how fast he was running, she knew they were right. Emma had to take this horse. Angus was her only hope at finding Jack. She would return him, though. As soon as she found Jack and convinced him to come back home to Arendelle, she would return Angus to his rightful owner. She would!

But Merida had no idea of the thought process that was going on in Emma's head, and because she didn't know that Emma had every intention of giving Angus back to her after she found her brother, the crown princess of Dunbroch was mad. Beyond mad. To her, this little girl was stealing Angus. And Angus was _her_ horse! Of all the horses Emma could have taken back in the stables for her mission to go and look for Jack, she took Angus! Oh, when Merida got her hands on this kid, she was a dead girl walking! That was a promise!

The foreign princesses' thoughts were focused solely on their pets that were being taken away on Emma.

And as for the Viking heir?

His thoughts were centered around his own 'pet' that was hidden out in the forest just outside the city, and it didn't take a genius to guess that that was where Emma was planning to go.

It took everything that Hiccup had not to start visibly panicking. Toothless was hidden out in the woods, and this kid was heading straight for the woods after her magical runaway brother. Granted, no one other than his fellow Vikings from Berk knew that the dragon was out there, so his Night Fury buddy wasn't in any immediate danger, but Hiccup could tell that Emma was having difficulty trying to control this wild horse.

Dragons weren't monsters like everyone had assumed them to be for the past three hundred years, and Hiccup knew that better than anyone considering he had been the first person to befriend and fly on top of a dragon.

But unfortunately, no one other than the people on Berk knew that.

If by some unlucky twist of fate this kid accidentally rode this horse near the thicket of trees that he had hidden Toothless in…

Well, Emma couldn't exactly hurt his dragon, so that wasn't an issue.

But she could unintentionally scare the Night Fury.

And that wouldn't end well for the kid.

Very slowly and quietly, Hiccup backed away from the rest of the group and disappeared into the crowd of confused and alarmed Arendelle citizens. No one paid him any attention as he carefully wove his way through the crowd to get to the castle gates, as all eyes were locked solely on Emma, and for that, Hiccup had to admit he was grateful to the gods for. He had to get Toothless and make sure he was calm and okay, just in case the kid accidentally stumbled upon him during her mad dash into the forest.

Plus, he was worried about whether Toothless could even feed himself now anyway thanks to the change in the weather and the fjord being frozen over. He should take an entire basket of fresh fish with him to make sure his best friend had a nice and hearty dinner tonight.

But Elsa and Anna were completely oblivious to what the Dunbroch and Corona princesses and the Viking heir were doing. Both the queen and the princess of Arendelle had all their attention focused solely on their young ward as they tried to dash forward and block Angus from going any further.

Their actions were quickly stopped though when their aunt and uncle seized them both by their upper arms to prevent them from doing what they intended. It was technically considered offensive to put their hands on the queen and the princess like that, but at that moment, King Frederic and Queen Arianna were only acting the way concerned family should react to seeing their nieces trying to willingly put themselves in the way of a mad horse.

Elsa and Anna both struggled to free themselves from their Coronan relatives, but the grips that Frederic and Arianna had on them were very strong, and their efforts were to no avail.

"Emma!" Anna cried out desperately as their all but honorary little sister galloped right past the remaining people in the crowd and did her best to steer Angus in the direction of the courtyard gates. "Emma!"

"Emma!" shouted Elsa, all manners and dignity forgotten as she called out to the little girl. "Emma, _what_ are you _doing?!"_

In all honesty, Elsa hadn't even been expecting an answer to that question, as Emma had successfully managed to direct the wild Shire horse to go through the gates, and they were quickly becoming brief specks in the far-off distance.

But to both her surprise as well as the surprise of everyone else in the courtyard, a rushed answer was thrown out over Emma's shoulder in a loud voice so everyone could hear her.

"I'm going after my big brother!"

There was no way of stopping the foolish child as she was seconds away from reaching the edge of the forest and all the city guards on duty tonight were currently gathered in the courtyard due to all the strange happenings with magic that seemed to be happening tonight. It was all enough to make Elsa's head spin.

It was bad enough that Jack had apparently set off some sort of accidental winter throughout the kingdom and ran away from the castle, _and_ there was also some sort of evil man who could make black sand horses with a snap of his fingers on the prowl somewhere out there in the forest.

But now, Emma had decided to act completely irrational by stealing a horse that so-happened to belong to the princess of Dunbroch in order to go out into the wilderness to look for Jack.

Why was all this happening? And why tonight?

Surely her father never had so many troubles spill on top of him all at once on the eve of his coronation as king…

It took Elsa several seconds to tune back into reality as these thoughts swirled about inside her head, but when she finally snapped out of her shock, the new queen suddenly realized that everyone, excluding her sister, was once again worked up into a great frenzy.

This wouldn't do.

Elsa couldn't deal with this right now.

She needed to stop being the queen for a few moments.

She needed some time with just Anna to think.

She had to figure out what to do about Jack being out there in the forest and Emma having gone to search for him. And with that mysterious Shadow Man lurking around somewhere out there in the woods, too.

"Everyone!" she called out loudly in a strong, clear voice to ensure that all the peasants, nobles, and royals in the courtyard could hear her. "Everyone, please! Calm down!"

Slowly, all the commotion died away again, and silence once more reigned over the crowd.

It took all the willpower Elsa had to not visibly gulp and continue to keep up the pretense of being a pillar of both wisdom and strength. She held her chin up high while addressing all those who were looking to her for leadership.

Even though on the inside, Elsa wanted more than anything to just break down into a puddle of tears.

"I… I am sure that everything that has happened tonight must seem like one unfortunate event after another, but I must respectfully request that all of you try not to panic. To those of you who live here in the village, please, return to your homes and try to stay warm. The castle will be happy to provide all of you townsfolk with extra food and warm clothing first thing in the morning. And to all royals and nobles who are here visiting the castle because of the celebrations, please return to your rooms in the palace. Things will be sorted out in the morning."

The Arendelle citizens were still scared, but they nonetheless respected their new queen. With shaky nods and quiet murmurs amongst themselves about Jack's powers and the unnatural winter, the evil Shadow Man that attacked the kingdom, and now most recently Emma's running away from the castle to search for Jack, they obediently dispersed through the gates to return to their homes.

But the visiting royals and nobles from the other major nations weren't so quick to comply.

"Your majesty! I think more explanations need to be given about that ice lad!"

"Queen Elsa, we need to discuss a plan of defense against that Shadow Man!"

"Elsa, as your uncle, I must respectfully advise you to not dismiss the other royals and nobles right now. They will not look kindly at this decision."

"Queen Elsa! That lass stole my horse! How do you answer for what she did?!"

"That little girl, Emma… She took my pet, too…"

"Wait… where did Hiccup go?"

"Queen Elsa!"

"Your majesty!"

"What do you say for—"

It was all too much for Elsa, and when her head finally snapped around to face all the royals and nobles that were addressing her all at once, the sharpness in her features instantly silenced everyone.

"I _said,"_ she repeated herself slowly in a cold, frosty tone, "that things will be sorted out in the _morning."_

She said this with such a finality in her words that nobody dared argue, or even if they were planning to argue with her after overcoming their initial shock, Elsa didn't give them any time to say whatever they planned to say. The new queen of Arendelle simply gave one last quick curtsy and nod to all the important guests to her country, and then motioned for her sister to follow her as she made her way back to the main entrance of the castle at a rather brisk pace without another word. The princess was taken aback by her sister's unusually cool and rude dismissal to both their distant relatives from Corona and their guests from both Dunbroch and the Barbaric Archipelago, but she didn't hesitate for even a moment to question her older sister's actions. With a curtsy and nod of her own to everyone watching her and Elsa with rather stunned expressions, Anna nearly stumbled forward a bit in order to catch up to her elder sister, although she did shoot a rather apologetic look to everyone over her shoulder while doing so.

As soon as she was certain that they were both out of earshot of the angry and worried royals and nobles, and any other nosy castle servants or scared villagers, Anna bit her lower lip nervously and turned to look up at Elsa.

"Elsa? What are—"

Without daring to look anywhere except straight ahead as the two of them crossed the threshold into their castle, Elsa merely raised up one of her blue gloved hands to silence her.

"Not now, Anna," she said in a rather short, dignified tone.

Anna blinked, still not understanding why Elsa was acting so cold to even her right now. They were sisters! They were each other's very best friends! Why was Elsa suddenly shutting her out?

Elsa caught sight of the hurt and confused look on her younger sister's face out of the corner of her eye, and realized she would have to clarify what she meant so Anna would understand her reasoning for not being able to speak her mind right now. She spared a discrete look around to see if there were still any of the castle employees around watching them. Sure enough, she could see Kai and Gerda hurriedly approaching the two of them, after entering the castle via a hidden servant access point up ahead, and they were dragging the castle servant children by their wrists and upper arms, as well as motioning for the three young princes of Dunbroch to follow along behind them. It would have been very disrespectful of them to manhandle members of royalty, even if they were only children. She would have to make this explanation very brief.

Making it look like she was merely bowing her head so as to glance down and fiddle with the clasp of the magenta mantle that was around her shoulders, Elsa nudged her elbow a bit into Anna's side to make sure she would pay attention.

"Not now, Anna. Not _here."_

And just like that, Anna understood. Elsa wasn't trying to be mean or short with her right now. She was worried about too many ears listening to them. Her sister wanted to wait to discuss everything with her when they were someplace private, that way no one could overhear them. With as much discreteness the quirky fifteen-year-old princess could muster, Anna stiffly nodded in return.

"Okay. Your bedroom then," she whispered back.

Elsa breathed a deep sigh of relief at that. As soon as they got past Kai and Gerda, the two of them would retreat to her bedroom where they could talk in relative safety. They had a lot to discuss.

The queen and the princess had barely managed to regain their composure and look calm and collected again when Kai and Gerda finally managed to reach them with the children in tow.

"Your majesty, your highness," said Gerda, she, Kai, the servant children, and the three triplet princes remembering their manners and bowing or curtsying politely to the two Arendelle royals as they halted before them. "Our apologies for adding more troubles to your plates, but these fellow castle children and the young Scottish princes here are the ones responsible for Emma's departure from the palace."

This was definitely not what Elsa and Anna had been expecting to hear. The sisters exchanged genuine looks of surprise with each other for a moment before turning their attention back to those standing before them.

"Beg your pardon, Gerda?" Anna said, sounding completely perplexed.

"They helped Emma get that horse saddled up so she could run off," Kai explained. "After Gerda and I saw the little girl go riding through the courtyard on the princess of Dunbroch's horse, we hurried to the stables to see if maybe she might have accidentally let any other animals out of their stalls. Instead, we found these children inside. They all admit to helping Emma get that horse ready so she could go and try to find her brother, and in addition to the horse, she also took some sort of green chameleon she found in there to be her new pet. The Scottish princes even said that they offered Emma their sister's horse to ride since it is apparently very fast."

Elsa and Anna were incapable of hiding their shock upon hearing this. Things just seemed to be spiraling from bad to worse tonight, going from one bad scenario to another.

With a dry mouth, Anna bent down a bit to be at the same level as all the children.

"Is what Kai and Gerda are telling us true? Did you really help Emma to run away like that?" she asked.

The kids all nodded.

"We don't care if you two punish us, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna," Jamie said, as he was the leader of the servant kids' friend group. "Emma's our friend! We had to help her!"

"And the three of us had every right to give Emma our big sister's horse!" Hubert piped up. "Angus belongs to Merida, but he's still technically the property of our family! Her taking Angus isn't stealing if we told her she could!"

Elsa fought the urge to massage her temples and make a visible show that she was beyond stressed. Instead, she looked directly at Kai and Gerda.

"Please escort Princes Hamish, Hubert, and Harris to the Dunbroch royal family's quarters, and then see to it that the other children are brought before their parents as well," she requested. "Be sure to tell their families what happened."

"Yes, of course, Queen Elsa."

"Right away, your majesty."

With a few more polite bows and curtsies, the adults led the children away in search of their families.

And now that they were alone again, Elsa and Anna continued silently down the hall. They avoided everyone else as they made their way up the grand staircase and down the many winding corridors of their castle. The sooner they made it to Elsa's bedroom, the better.

It seemed to take an eternity for the two sisters, but finally, they spied the blue designs that swirled about in intricate patterns on Elsa's bedroom door, and they quickly hurried forward to open the door and slip inside.

As soon as she and Anna were safely inside and away from any and all prying eyes, Elsa quickly turned the lock to make sure that they were not disturbed, and let the mask of strength and calm fall off her face as she buried her glistening eyes into the palms of her hands.

"Elsa!" Anna cried, rushing forward to wrap her arms around her. "Elsa! It's all right!"

Elsa forced herself to let no more than a handful of tears escape her eyes before focusing her attention back on Anna.

"How could this have happened, Anna?" she whispered. "Jack's gone… He has magical powers that no one knew about… And now Emma's had the wild idea to go chasing after him…"

Anna blinked away tears of her own when she heard this and saw her older sister, who always appeared to be so strong, in such distress.

"I… I don't know," she said shakily, her voice muffled a bit from tucking her face into Elsa's shoulder. "This was supposed to be such a fun night! We've been waiting for today for years, the day you became queen and overruled Mother and Father's decision to lock the castle gates! But… But everything is just so wrong!"

"And then there's that Shadow Man with those horses!" Elsa sighed. "Who was that? What did he want with all of us?"

Anna sighed and made half an effort at a shrug. "No idea. He… He said something along the lines of being happy that he collected fear from all of us. What was he talking about, Elsa?"

"You're guess is as good as mine about that, Anna…"

"And what about Jack?! He… He has _magic powers,_ Elsa! He set off an unnatural winter in the middle of _summer!_ I… I don't think he meant to do it, but still… how could he never tell us about his powers? I know he doesn't let anybody get close to him… but I still thought we were friends with him!"

Elsa mutely shook her head at that. The new queen shared her sister's confusion about that. Why did Jack never tell them about his powers? They wouldn't have hated him! Powers or no powers, Jackson Overland was still a good person. Why didn't he just tell them that he could make ice and snow?

"I… I'm not sure why he didn't tell us, Anna, but I do know this. His powers didn't come as a shock to just you, me, and everyone else in the kingdom. They came as a shock to Emma, too. She told me herself that she knew absolutely nothing about them when we were coming back into the courtyard to find you and the other royals and nobles."

"Emma… What on earth was she thinking?! She's… She's basically riding out to her unavoidable death going out there alone into the woods!"

As Anna paced frantically back and forth and tried to figure out what could have been going on in little Emma's mind when she decided to go chasing after her runaway and – apparently very magical older brother – Elsa sighed. Emma's careless actions posed a problem. It would have been possible to try and convince the other royals and nobles to not focus on Jack and the accidental unleashing of his ice powers and instead try to get them to focus on the threat that the Shadow Man posed to all of them. But now that Emma had taken Princess Merida's horse to go looking for Jack, everything was different.

Emma's wish to find Jack was understandable and sweet, but it was also reckless and immature.

That little girl was going to get herself killed out there in the woods.

There was no way that Jack would ever dare to hurt his little sister, but that Shadow Man was out there.

And if the Shadow Man didn't kill her, then she could die from freezing to death out there in the cold.

Then, of course, there were also wolves out there…

Possibly even bears…

Yeah, it was definitely too dangerous out there for a little kid traveling alone in the middle of nowhere.

And that left only one course of action to be done.

"I have to go out there after her and Jack…"

Of all things that Anna had been expecting Elsa to say, that was not it, and she immediately spun around to stare at her sister in disbelief.

"What…? Elsa?! You wish to go out there to look for her and Jack, too?!"

"There's no other choice, Anna! Emma's a sweet girl, but she's also stubborn! She won't listen to reason should we send anyone else out there after her. It has to be one of us because she trusts us! And with any luck, I'll stumble across Jack as well while looking for Emma."

"But you just said that Emma will only listen to either you or me! I'll go, Elsa! You're the queen! You should stay here! Or… Or at least let me go with you!"

Elsa vehemently shook her head at that idea. "No, Anna. I'm not risking your life out there, and if something should happen to me, Arendelle falls to you as the last member of our family. I need you to take care of our country while I'm gone."

"Elsa… Elsa I know nothing about leadership! I don't know how to rule a country and be… well… a _queen regent!_ There's no way I can keep the peace in the city between the visitors from Dunbroch and the Vikings from Berk, and prevent them from either killing each other or deciding to march out there on their own to hunt down Jack!"

"You won't be alone. Uncle Frederic and Aunt Arianna are undoubtedly just as shocked as we are by all that happened tonight, but I believe that they're on our side when it comes to Jack. And Queen Elinor seems to be a rather reasonable woman. Listen to their counsel, Anna. They will help you look after things here, I'm sure of it."

Anna's frown only grew, but she still nodded at Elsa's logic. While Chief Stoick, his second-in-command Gobber, King Fergus, and the other three clan lords from Dunbroch seemed to be all for wanting Jack's head on a spike right now, their aunt, uncle, Queen Elinor, and to some extent the rest of the younger generation of royalty and nobility seemed to be on their side in thinking that everything that happened tonight with Jack had been nothing more than a tragic accident. Anna was merely their late parents' second-born daughter, and as such, had grown up knowing she would never rule their country one day, but she was kind and smart in her own way.

So long as she asked for help from their Coronan relatives and the queen of Dunbroch, in dealing with keeping the peace in Arendelle, and somehow managed to persuade the rest of the younger nobles and royals from Berk and Dunbroch to try and convince their people to not do anything rash while Elsa was gone, things would turn out all right in the end.

Elsa was sure of it.

"All… All right, Elsa. But at least wait a little while to make sure no one's around anymore before you sneak off to the stables to get a horse! And let me walk you down there! I want to spend a little bit more time with you!"

Elsa smiled half-heartedly in return. "Of course, Anna. I need to change out of this dress anyway. I can't go looking for Emma wearing my coronation dress and the royal crown."

* * *

It was nearly two in the morning when the door to the new queen's bedroom opened again. The princess poked her head out first to make sure the coast was clear, and upon seeing that the hallway was completely deserted, she sighed with relief before pushing it fully open and motioning for her sister to follow her as she slipped quietly out of the room.

"It's okay, Elsa. No one's around. Come on," Anna whispered.

"Yes, I'm coming," Elsa said back.

Elsa hurried out of the room with light, quiet footsteps, pausing only momentarily to gently close the door behind her. Her new wintry traveling attire was rather simple. Although Elsa chose to keep her hair pinned back in its coronation coronet hairstyle, the blue coronation gown and magenta mantle she had worn all throughout the day were gone. They were instead replaced by a traditional Norwegian dress with a long, dark blue skirt and a black bodice with silver trim and green, red, yellow, and purple rose prints near the neckline. She wore a light blue long-sleeved blouse underneath, and black heeled leather boots with silver linings and light blue soles. Around her shoulders was a deep blue cape with small tassels along the edge to supply extra warmth, and the cloak's clasp near her neck was in the shape of the Arendelle royal family crest, a beautifully crafted silver crocus pin. She still wore a pair of blue gloves, but unlike the ones she wore for her coronation and the party afterwards, these ones weren't made of silk, but of fine quality wool that kept her hands nice and toasty warm.

She was definitely ready to tackle the forests surrounding the city in the middle of winter.

As the queen and the princess hurried down the hall to reach the grand staircase, Anna turned to look at her older sister and frowned.

"Elsa, are you _sure_ you don't want me to come along?" she said in a low tone. "I know you said you need me to stay here and take care of the kingdom while you do this… but I'm worried about Emma and Jack, too!"

"I'm positive, Anna. You are needed here. I promise you I will find the Overlands and bring them back safely to the castle. I'll find Emma, and then I'll find Jack. Everything will be all right."

"But… But until you find them, you'll be all by yourself out there! I don't want you going out there all alone! What if something happens to you?!"

Elsa bit her lower lip. She did have to admit that it was rather foolish to go out into the forest in search of Jack and Emma all by herself, but she didn't have a choice. She couldn't ask anyone else to risk their lives. She might be the queen, but she didn't want to put anyone else in danger because she had to find the Overland siblings. Emma was almost like family to her and Anna. Their other sister in all but blood. And Jack? Jack was very important to her. He was her old friend. She understood now why he had abruptly started shutting everyone out of his life ten years ago back when they were children. He was just trying to keep his ice and snow powers a secret.

Well, Jack wouldn't need to keep secrets from her anymore when she found him.

She would bring him back to the castle.

He wouldn't have to stay locked up in his bedroom anymore whenever he wasn't busy with his servant duties just to keep people safe from his ice.

Elsa would be right by his side.

Jack wouldn't have to hide away from life anymore.

Not when she had already vowed to be a better friend to him from now on.

"I'll be fine, Anna, I swear," she said finally as she and Anna turned down another corridor. "Nothing bad is going to happen to me. It will all be—"

She was cut off when she walked face-first into another body as she turned the corner.

"Ouch!"

"Ow!"

"Elsa! Elsa, are you all right?!"

Anna darted forward to check and see if Elsa was okay, and she was. She was merely rubbing her forehead a bit from where she had mistakenly collided with the unexpected body.

"I'm fine, Anna. But are you okay— Rapunzel?!"

Elsa had been glancing up to see if the person she had accidentally bumped into was okay, but she was now highly taken aback to see the face of her's and Anna's long-haired Coronan cousin standing before them as she massaged her own head. She seemed to be mirroring Elsa's look of shock as she stared at her and Anna.

"Elsa! Anna! What… What are you two doing still up?" the golden-blonde princess asked.

Anna blinked. "That's our question, Rapunzel. What are you doing out of bed, and why are you dressed like that?"

Elsa hadn't even noticed Rapunzel's apparent state of dress yet, but upon hearing what her little sister just asked, she glanced down a bit. Rapunzel had changed out of her formal, summery purple dress that she had worn earlier to a warmer wool pink dress with a vivid purple cape pinned around her neck with an emblem of the sun. Her blonde hair was still bound back in its tight braid to keep it from dragging on the floor as it usually did whenever left hanging loose, but the pink and purple ribbons that had been exquisitely woven into the hairstyle had been pulled out. A good pair of leather boots were on her feet now, and a pair of pretty pink mittens were on her hands, which were tightly clutching onto the most unexpected item that the Arendelle queen and princess could have guessed she might be carrying right then as though her life depended on it:

The metallic handle of a large, black frying pan.

Their cousin looked like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar as she stood there in front of them, frozen stiff with shock and unable to think of a single thing to say for the longest time.

Finally, Rapunzel sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I was hoping to get out of the castle without anyone seeing me, but I guess that's out of the question, now. Just my luck!" she mumbled to herself.

Elsa's confusion only grew. "Pardon me? You were trying to leave the castle?"

"Yeah… I tried to explain it to you earlier back in the courtyard, Elsa. That little servant girl that ran off on the princess of Dunbroch's horse to find her brother? She didn't just take Princess Merida's pet with her when she took off. She took Pascal, too."

"Pascal? Who's Pascal?" Anna asked.

"My chameleon. I've had him with me since before Eugene rescued me from the woman who kidnapped me when I was a baby. I've… I've never once considered Pascal to be my pet. He's my best friend! I had him stay down in the castle stables with my horse during the party, but it seems as though that little girl took him with her when she ran off to look for her brother… Jack, I think you two said his name was? I don't know whether or not that little girl meant to take Pascal with her when she rode out of the city, but I have to go out there and look for that girl, because wherever she is, Pascal is, too! I have to find him!"

Elsa and Anna exchanged looks of bewilderment. It would seem as though Elsa wouldn't be alone after all in her quest to find Emma.

"Her name is Emma, Rapunzel, and I was just planning to secretly leave the castle to find her, too," Elsa declared. "Emma is mine and Anna's ward. She's a very special little girl, but after that, I intend to go and look for Jack as well. We should travel together. There's safety in numbers, especially when traveling through the forest."

Rapunzel's expression instantly brightened. "Oh! That's a good idea, Elsa! I was worried for a second there that you and Anna would drag me back to my family's guest rooms to stop me from going anywhere!"

"Wait, hold on… Your parents and your fiancé don't know that you're doing this?" Anna cut in.

Rapunzel's smile immediately became very fixed. "My mother and father? I love them dearly, but because they're so scared that someone might try to kidnap me again the way I was right after I was first born, they're kind of overprotective… Granted, they're not as overprotective as the woman who abducted me was, but they're still afraid of losing me. I didn't tell them anything about this! I just left a note on my bed explaining where I went and that I would take my horse Maximus with me, and with any luck, I'd be back within a few days after I found Pascal."

Elsa bit her lower lip. She didn't like the idea of allowing her new cousin to accompany her out into the forest if her aunt and uncle hadn't given Rapunzel permission to do so.

"What about your fiancé? Eugene?" she asked. "Did you tell him what you were doing?"

A sly look suddenly replaced Rapunzel's strained smile. "He actually caught me red-handed trying to sneak out. He tried to go and tell my parents what I was doing, but I took care of him!"

"Huh? Took care of him how?" Anna asked, not understanding.

Rapunzel merely began stroking the curve of the frying pan she was holding with an odd smile on her face before daring to speak.

"I took care of him. That's all you need to know."

Elsa and Anna decided to listen to their cousin on that and not pry any further. If what Rapunzel was silently implying turned out to be true, then the less either of them knew about it, the better.

"Um… all right. But no one else saw you leaving other than him, right?" Elsa cautiously asked.

"Nope. No one other than you two, Elsa, Anna," she replied rather happily.

"Just know that if you agree to go with my sister to look for Emma, you're also agreeing to go and look for Jack afterwards," Anna said. "You might be content with just finding Emma and your little chameleon, but Elsa has every intention of finding Jack, too. We need to get him to come back to the castle and stop the winter before that strange Shadow Man finds him first."

This made Rapunzel pause for a moment as she considered this. Truth be told, although she was on the same side as her parents and didn't think that Jack was a bad person, fifteen years of being told to be afraid of everything in the world thanks to Mother Gothel's clever lies to keep her from trying to leave her tower still resonated with the Coronan princess. Deep down, Rapunzel knew that it was silly to think this way considering almost everything Mother Gothel had ever told her turned out to be lies and that she really had no right to judge Jack since she had a magical secret of her own… But still… her secret saved people while Jack's could possibly hurt people, even if Jack himself didn't mean to do it.

After what had to be the longest stretch of silence as Elsa and Anna waited for Rapunzel to make up her mind, their cousin finally faced them again and nodded.

"I… I'll admit that I'm somewhat wary of Jack's powers, but I don't think it's right for him to have run away like that. I'll help you find him."

Elsa smiled in relief while Anna beamed happily.

"Thank you, Rapunzel."

"You're a lifesaver, Rapunzel! Now I won't have to be nearly so worried about Elsa going out there all on her own!"

Their cousin giggled at that. "It's no trouble at all. I want to find Pascal more than anything, but I was worried myself about going out there into the woods alone. There could be ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, and quicksand! Or cannibals, snakes, the plague… Even large bugs and men with pointy teeth!"

Her wild imagination of what could be out there in the Arendelle forest made both Elsa and Anna stare at her strangely.

"Uh… what?" Anna repeated, beyond confused by her strange range of thought.

"Anna and I may not have left the castle walls since we were children, Rapunzel, but we can assure you that there's nothing at all like that in the entire country!" Elsa exclaimed. "Arendelle is very safe kingdom! Sure, we admit that we can't exactly guarantee that there are definitely no snakes or poison ivy out in the woods, but considering that Jack accidentally made the summer season turn to winter, neither of those things should be a problem. And everything else you just mentioned? Neither of us have ever heard of anyone being troubled out in the forest and mountains by things like that!"

Rapunzel's cheeks flushed light pink with slight embarrassment. "Oh! I… I see…" she said rather bashfully.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about any of those things out there, Rapunzel! But we should _all_ be worried about standing out here in the open!" Anna said quickly, looking about nervously in all directions to see if there were possibly people around wandering about through the dark hallways. "Anyone could wake up and see the three of us here! You two have got to get down to the stables pronto!"

"Oh, yes. Yes, of course, Anna."

"Ah, yeah! You're right about that! But I don't suppose you two could show me the way to the Grand Staircase? I've been wandering around these hallways for a while now because I couldn't remember the way to get there…"

"Certainly. Follow us please, Rapunzel."

And with that, the three girls set off again down the hall.

They walked in silence for a time, as they were keeping their eyes and ears peeled for the slightest indication that someone, be it castle guest or servant, was up and wandering through the castle corridors, but to the relief of the new queen and the two princesses, they stumbled upon no one as they stole through the halls and down the many stairs of the Grand Staircase. They were relieved to come across no one else, but still took no chances by daring to so much as whisper to each other as they made their way through the castle. At least not until the three of them had successfully managed to slip outside through a servants' exit in the castle kitchens.

But the trio was completely taken aback by what they saw when they stepped outside.

It had only been a few hours ago that Jack's magic had turned summer into winter by accident, but even so, the snow hadn't stopped falling from the sky all this time, and the city was covered in a still ever-growing blanket of snow. It wasn't too bad yet, the amount on the ground, but should Elsa and Rapunzel delay leaving the city any longer, they would have a difficult time trying to get out, because it was clear to all three girls that this snow was going to keep falling from the sky for a good while longer.

Anna was the bravest one out of the three of them though, and took a hesitant step forward out of the castle doorway into the thickly packed snowy ground. Her foot sunk down deep into the smooth and cold whiteness, and she instantly shivered.

"Brr! It's freezing out here!" she whimpered, her teeth chattering slightly as she ran her hands up and down her upper arms to try and stay warm.

"Anna! Go back inside! You don't have a winter cloak on! Rapunzel and I can get our horses ready on our own! I don't want you to get sick!" Elsa exclaimed.

Anna fervently shook her head at her sister's suggestion. "No way! I want to see you and Rapunzel off at the castle gates! As soon as you both leave, I'll go back in and get warm! I promise! But first let me see you safely off! You're both family!"

Elsa sighed. "All right, but let's hurry then. I'll feel much better once you go back in and call for a servant to get a fire going in your bedroom…"

"I'll do that as soon you two leave. I swear."

"Let's go. It's going to take us some time to get Maximus and your horse ready, Elsa," Rapunzel said.

Elsa and Anna nodded, and the girls set off again at a rather slow pace through the great mounds of snow to reach the castle barn.

But as the three of them approached the stables, they saw something that made the trio immediately pause with worry.

The main door to the stable was wide open, and they could see the yellow, glowing light of a lantern bobbing about from somewhere inside.

Someone was awake and wandering around in the barn.

This posed a serious problem in Elsa and Rapunzel's plan to quietly disappear without anyone noticing.

"Oh, dear…" Rapunzel whispered, her bright green eyes shining with worry. "What do we do now?"

Anna bit her lip, clearly at a loss for words, and then turned to look up at her older sister, hoping that she might have a possible solution on what to do.

For a long time, Elsa didn't say anything in response, as she wasn't entirely sure what to do now. The Arendelle queen knew that she and her Coronan cousin needed to go into the stables in order to get horses to travel on, but how could they get those horses if there was someone awake and rummaging about inside the stables?

But their small dilemma corrected itself when they heard what sounded like angry whinnying of a short-tempered horse erupting from inside the barn, followed by what had to be a furious tirade of words from an equally short-tempered Scottish girl.

"Bah! Hold still, you damn horse! I don't care if you don't like me or not! Angus is a thousand times more stubborn than you are, and if I can deal with him, I can deal with you!"

Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel all blinked and shared puzzled looks amongst themselves for a moment before daring to venture forward and peer inside the barn.

To the surprise of the two sisters and their long-haired cousin, there was a white horse already out of its stall and being forcibly manhandled by a girl around their age with long, completely wild red hair as she struggled to fix a saddle onto its back while at the same time trying to avoid being kicked in the stomach by the angry horse's back legs.

The horse was Maximus, and even though the girl was not wearing a wimple and was dressed more simply than she had been at the coronation party earlier – as she was now wearing a dark teal cotton off-the-shoulder style dress with a floor-length skirt, had a warm black wool cloak tied around her neck by a gold clasp with an emblem of her clan's crest, had a set of taupe leather boots on her feet instead of the heels she had on before and a set of a matching leather gloves on her hands for extra warmth, and even had a quiver of arrows strapped to her back while a matching white recurve bow leaned against a stall door – there was no question at all about who she was to Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel.

Princess Merida of Clan Dunbroch seemed to be trying to leave the castle as well.

The question was, why?

"Um… excuse me? Princess Merida? Is that you?" Elsa called out rather hesitantly.

Elsa's words were rather soft considering how bewildered she was, but Merida and Maximus still heard her. Both their heads immediately snapped up and spun around to see her, Anna, and Rapunzel still standing in the entryway to the barn. Merida froze up upon realizing that she had been caught red-handed trying to steal what she assumed was one of the Arendelle stable horses, but Maximus happily whinnied when he saw his princess standing there. Now that Rapunzel was here, she could stop this other rude girl from trying to steal him like Pascal and that other black horse had been a few hours ago!

Finally, Merida seemed to realize that the queen and the two princesses were still waiting for her to say something, and she forced herself to forget about her nerves. She drew herself up straight and raised her chin a bit to better project her voice, the way her mother had taught her to do in princess lessons when addressing other people. The seventeen-year-old Scottish princess had always hated her princess lessons when she was younger, but ever since the bear fiasco, she had learned that while her lessons were troublesome, they were still necessary. And she was grateful to her mother for teaching her how to project an aura of confidence around her when addressing others.

Especially right now.

What she had been doing was technically wrong, stealing a horse like this in a foreign country – but she was a Dunbroch.

Pride, stubbornness, and bravery flowed through every drop of blood in her veins.

If this queen or either of these princesses thought that they could stop her from what she had been planning to do, they had another thing coming.

No one could stop what she had to do.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Princess Rapunzel," she said in a strong, powerful voice. "What a surprise…"

Her words echoed a bit in the expanse of the barn, but Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel were not the slightest bit put off by the overly confident girl standing before them.

They were still just so confused.

"Yeah, this is a surprise," Anna agreed, her eyes simply staring back and forth between Merida, her bow leaning against one of the stalls, and Maximus that she was in the process of saddling up. "What exactly are you doing in here?"

"And why are you trying to steal Maximus? He's my horse," Rapunzel made sure to add.

This made Merida blink, and she glanced back and forth between the golden-haired Coronan princess and the white stallion with obvious surprise. "He's yours?" she repeated. "Sorry, I didn't know that. I thought he was just one of the regular Arendelle stable horses. I meant to take one of those."

"And why exactly were you trying to steal one of the castle horses, your highness?" Elsa demanded, her own eyes narrowing a bit at the thought. "My sister and I have been good hosts to you, your family, and the other guests from your homeland, have we not? I believe you owe Anna and myself an explanation for this."

Merida huffed and folded her arms across her chest to express her annoyance. "First of all, don't bother calling me either 'your highness' or 'Princess Merida.' I hate being addressed by proper titles! Just call me Merida, and I'll do the same and address all of you by your first names! Secondly, yes. Yes, Elsa, you and your sister have been good hosts to me, my family, and the other clan visitors. This is nothing personal against either you or Anna. But I need to borrow one of your horses so I can go and find mine!"

Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel only grew more puzzled.

Merida realized that they still didn't understand her, and sighed. "That wee lass that's related to Jack? The ice boy? She rode out of the city on a black Shire horse. _My horse._ My wee devils for brothers told me, my mum, and my dad that they told her to take my Angus, but that doesn't matter! Angus is _mine!_ If that lassie thinks she can ride out into the middle of nowhere on Angus without asking me for permission, she's got another thing coming! I apologize, Elsa, if you don't agree with what I'm doing, but I have every right to go and get my horse back!"

Merida looked rather satisfied with herself after saying all this, as though her explanation for what she was doing would justify her actions in the eyes of the Arendelle queen and princess, and the Coronan princess.

But the three girls were anything but satisfied with her response.

"Do your parents know you're doing this?"

"You… You don't plan to _hurt_ Emma out there, do you? I mean… you have a bow and arrow set…"

"You can't take Maximus. The way Angus is your horse, Maximus is mine. Please give me the end of his reins."

Merida rolled her eyes in exasperation, but nonetheless passed the end of the reins to Rapunzel before turning her attention back to Elsa and Anna.

"No, I didn't tell my mum or dad that I was doing this, but they won't blame either of you. I run off into the forests around Dunbroch all the time back home. If something happens to me out there, they won't hold either of you responsible, I swear. And _no!_ I'm not happy with that little girl for taking Angus, but I'm _not_ planning to hurt her in any way! I have my bow with me in case I run into wild animals or that Shadow Man out there! It's for self-defense only!"

Rapunzel blinked again after hearing that last explanation, but then turned to give her cousins a rather sheepish look as she held up her frying pan. "You can't blame her for that, Elsa, Anna. I was taking this along to protect myself against any ruffians and thugs I happened to stumble across."

"I'm… I'm not sure if I would have used that exact comparison, but I'm glad you understand where I am coming from, Rapunzel. Now, if you all don't mind, I have to saddle up a different horse now because you, Rapunzel, have made it clear that I cannot use yours!"

Ignoring the baffled looks from the three other girls, the crown princess of Dunbroch spun around on her heel, and started marching away with her head held high further down the aisle of stalls in search of another strong, able-bodied horse.

But before she could walk more than five paces away, Elsa called out after her.

"Just a moment, please, Prin— I mean, Merida. I do believe we might be able to help each other out."

Merida paused in mid-step. She doubted that there was anything that the Arendelle queen could say right now that could work in her interest in finding Angus, but still, it didn't hurt just to hear her out.

"I'm listening. Go on," she said.

"Emma is a ward of the castle, and that places her under my protection as queen," Elsa explained. "I was planning to go out there into the forest to look for her, and then to go and find Jack. He's a very dear friend to both Anna and myself. And coincidentally, Rapunzel has her own reasons for wanting to find Emma, too."

Rapunzel nodded in agreement. "Yes, Emma took my other pet friend with her when she rode out of the city. My chameleon Pascal," she told the curly-haired Scottish princess.

"It's better to stick with other people! You should go with Elsa and Rapunzel!" Anna exclaimed. "Jack's not a bad person, so you don't have to worry about him, but with that weird Shadow Man out there on the prowl, you can't be too careful! You can all look after each other if you go with them!"

Merida carefully considered this. Teaming up wasn't exactly her style. She preferred to do things on her own. Plus, neither Elsa nor Rapunzel looked as though they had ever done anything strenuous before in their lives. Traveling with them would probably mean that she would be the one looking after them and not the other way around.

But then again, Anna did bring up a fair point. There was safety in numbers, especially in a different land. If she had planned to do something like this back in Dunbroch, Merida wouldn't even bother considering going along with the Arendelle queen and the Coronan princess because she had nothing to fear back home. She knew the forests surrounding her kingdom better than the back of her hand. But she wasn't in Dunbroch right now. She was in a whole other kingdom and had never explored the forests here before, nor did she have any idea as to what types of predatory animals could be lurking around out there.

Perhaps it would be the better option to go along with them…

"Very well. I'll go with you both, but only on one condition," she said at last.

"And what would that be?" Elsa asked.

"There's no point in bringing along an extra horse if you're both going along. I ride behind one of you on your horses until we find that lass and my horse. I'll ride on my own on Angus after that."

"That seems fair," Rapunzel shrugged. "What do you think, Elsa?"

"Yes, I agree. You may ride behind me for now, Merida."

"Then help me finish getting this stubborn horse saddled up first, and then let's get whatever horse you intend to ride ready, Elsa. Heaven knows that this Maximus is almost as temperamental as my Angus!"

The girls nodded, and they hurried forward to assist Merida in getting Maximus prepared to go out into the forest. This time though, Maximus was nothing short of being the most patient and friendly horse there was as the four girls took care of a few last minute preparations. The only reason why the white stallion had been acting so stubborn before was because he was loyal first and foremost to Rapunzel and the Coronan royal family, so the fact that Merida was trying to take him against his will so she could ride him out into the woods had been a big no-no in his book. But now that Rapunzel was going to be his designated rider, the Coronan guard horse had no reason to be a pain and refuse to be saddled and bridled. He hoped that he did a good job for his beloved princess during the course of this mission to find that little servant girl that stole Pascal and that black Shire horse.

As soon as he was ready to go, Elsa swept away from the other three princesses and made her way down the aisle until she came to a stop in front of a horse stall containing a beautiful tan Norwegian Fjord horse of a strong build, with amber eyes and a black and white mane and tail.

The horse whinnied happily when he saw her, and Elsa smiled as she gently stroked his snout before unlocking the pen door and leading him out to get him saddled as well.

"That's your horse then, Elsa?" Merida asked.

Elsa nodded. "Yes, this is Sitron. He's lovely, isn't he?"

"Very lovely! Nice to meet you, Sitron!" Rapunzel said happily, walking forward so she could pet his mane for a moment.

Maximus huffed at the lack of attention from his mistress, and nickered loudly at Rapunzel as he pawed the ground repeatedly with his black hooves.

Rapunzel lightly laughed at her stallion's obvious show of jealousy. "Don't worry, Maximus! I haven't forgotten about you! You're still my favorite!" she assured him over her shoulder.

Maximus snorted and rolled his eyes, but he didn't have any chance to do anything further, as the others were almost finished getting together another set of reins and an additional saddle to put on Sitron.

As soon as he was ready, Elsa swung her body up on top of him with relative ease, and then offered Merida a hand to pull her up as well.

But Merida refused the help.

"I'm good. I climb onto Angus on my own back in Dunbroch all the time," she explained. She collected the bow that she had set aside earlier while initially getting Maximus ready to ride, and then she climbed up onto Sitron's back directly behind Elsa. With some slight awkwardness as she tried to figure out how to hold onto the queen while keeping a good grip on her bow, Merida finally elected to swing the bow across her shoulders to carry it in the same way she was carrying her quiver of arrows, and then she wrapped her arms around Elsa's waist.

"Is this all right?" she asked Elsa when she was finally settled.

"Yes, that's fine, Merida."

Then Rapunzel approached Maximus. Passing her frying pan over to Anna to hold for a moment, the Coronan princess swung her legs over her friend's large white body, and adjusted herself in the saddle for a moment until she was comfortable before taking the cooking utensil back from her younger cousin. But as soon as she had it in her hands again, she suddenly realized what a problem it made since she couldn't hold onto both it and the reins at the same time.

The others quickly came to the same realization that she had.

"Maybe you should just leave it behind?" Anna suggested. "I mean… what use could a frying pan be against a wolf or that Shadow Man?"

"Plenty! This frying pan has gotten me out of many sticky situations in the past! You'd be surprised at how good of a weapon it can be!" she insisted.

"Well, how do you propose you carry it then? That purple cloak doesn't happen to have any big pockets, does it?" Merida asked with a raised brow.

Rapunzel started to shake her head, but then Maximus started neighing a bit as he spun his head around to gaze back at her. Without giving his princess any sort of warning of what he was about to do, the white horse suddenly opened his mouth, clamped his teeth down on the edge of the metal, and then yanked the frying pan right out of Rapunzel's hand before turning his head back around to look straight ahead again.

Rapunzel beamed when she realized what Maximus was doing. "Oh! You'll carry it for me, Maximus? That's so sweet! Thank you!"

As she patted his neck happily to express her gratitude, the others simply stared at her in disbelief.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that that horse understood exactly what we were saying," Elsa mused.

"Actually, he does! Maximus is very smart! Like I said back at the party before… well… _everything_ happened. Maximus is quite possibly the smartest horse there ever was! He understands human language better than any other animal I've ever met, the only exception being perhaps Pascal. Pascal is just as smart as he is!"

Maximus held himself up proudly at that, feeling deeply moved that his mistress thought so highly of him, but the others just gave her strange looks. Rapunzel merely shrugged their puzzled looks aside. She was sure that if she was in their place, what she had just said would seem rather odd. No matter. Elsa and Merida would see what she meant soon enough during the course of this expedition.

"Well, looks like you three are all set. I'll get the castle gates open," Anna offered.

Elsa smiled. "Thank you, Anna. That's very kind of you."

"It's no trouble, Elsa, really!"

Anna quickly turned and dashed ahead out of the barn to open up the gates, leaving Elsa and Rapunzel no other choice but to lightly kick the heels of their boots into Sitron and Maximus's side so they could follow her.

At first, Anna struggled to get one of the heavy gate doors open, but after only a few moments' delay, she finally managed to open one of them up just enough for the two horses and riders to slip through.

"Good… Good luck, you three!" she groaned through her teeth from how hard she was struggling to keep the gate open. "Bring back… Bring back Emma and Jack! And stay… stay safe! Especially you, Elsa! Come back safe and sound!"

"I will, Anna. And you take care of yourself and Arendelle while we're gone."

"See you soon, Anna!"

"Thank you for your help."

And with that, Elsa urged Sitron to take off at a gallop through the barely open gate, and Merida tightened her grip around her body to make sure she didn't fall off as Rapunzel urged Maximus to do the same.

The girls knew they couldn't take their time going through the village, as there was the slightest chance that some random villager could be awake to see them leaving and toll the alarm that their new queen and two of the foreign princesses were slipping away on horseback in the dead of the night. So they made sure to ride like the wind through town, not daring to slow down at all. Not even when they finally made it to the edge of the snow-covered forest.

They were off to find Emma and Jack.

And nothing and no one could stop them now.

Or at least, that was what they thought.

They had barely managed to make it more than fifty yards into the thicket of evergreen trees, when the group was forced to come to a halt as they heard what sounded like the snapping of tree branches a little way off to the right.

"What… What was that…?" Rapunzel asked nervously, accepting her frying pan back from Maximus when he turned his head back around to give it to her for some means of protection.

"Good question. Merida? You said you go out into the forest a lot back at home. Do you know what that was?" Elsa inquired.

Merida was silently readying her bow in her hand as she slid an arrow out from her quiver. "That was no animal, I can tell you that," she whispered, her narrowed blue eyes focusing on a certain cluster of evergreen trees right near where Rapunzel was at. "If I had to guess… I'd say we're not the only people out in the woods here tonight…"

Elsa's eyes widened at that, but Rapunzel squeaked with fear.

"Oh, gosh! It has to be ruffians and thugs! I'm not sure how they could have found out about my hair, but they must surely be here for me! Oh, gosh! Oh, gosh! Oh, go—"

"For crying out loud, Lass, shut up!" Merida abruptly snapped. "Do you want the whole world to know we're right here?!"

Rapunzel bit her tongue and nodded silently with the promise she'd stay quiet, but Elsa's brows furrowed. Merida might have missed the strange thing that the golden-haired princess had just said, but she hadn't. Elsa was confused. What did her cousin mean when she said that ruffians and thugs wanted her hair? Sure, it was unusually long and blonde due to the healing magic of that mysterious golden flower that Queen Arianna consumed during her pregnancy, but other than those two facts, there didn't appear to be anything else strange about it.

What secrets was the former Lost Princess of Corona hiding?

But her musings were interrupted when the snowy branch only a few inches away from Rapunzel's head suddenly moved.

Elsa had barely managed to catch sight of a pair of brilliant green _human_ eyes blinking repeatedly with surprise from seeing the three of them when Rapunzel suddenly shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Her scream didn't do anything in regards to Maximus, as he was well aware that his mistress became easily frightened in scenarios such as these, but it still freaked out Sitron. The spooked horse reared back in the air in panic, causing both Elsa and Merida to fall right off, and Merida accidentally let her arrow fly way off course of its intended target between the stranger's eyes, landing in the bark of the tree instead.

The person – obviously male judging by the yelp that followed – jumped nearly a foot in the air when he saw the arrow whiz past his head, but when he landed back down on the ground, the large object that he had been carrying strapped to his back became tangled in the tree branches, causing him to lose his balance even more. He tripped over his own feet and started falling forward.

Right up close to Rapunzel.

Naturally, the frightened Coronan princess freaked, because less than two seconds later—

 _CLANG!_

—her frying pan swung through the air and whacked the stranger square on the head.

And with that, the person fell face first into the snow, knocked out cold.

For a few seconds after that, all was silent among the girls. Elsa and Merida were slowly picking themselves off of the ground while Rapunzel was all but frozen on top of her horse, her frying pan clasped tightly in her hands and still raised up high in the air due to her shock. When she finally managed to realize what she did, her head snapped around to look at the other two girls with wide eyes.

"Please… Please tell me I didn't kill him…" she whimpered.

Elsa and Merida gave her strange looks.

"I… I've knocked people out before with my frying pan, but that time… that time I hit him harder than I usually would," she slowly explained. "I just… I panicked when I saw him falling towards me! I thought he was going to attack! I… I didn't know what else to do!"

Merida rolled her eyes, but Elsa stepped forward to try and pry what appeared to be the leather straps of a wickerwork basket off their mystery assailant's shoulders and flip him over onto his back.

But when she did so, all three of them gasped.

The stranger was none other than the Viking heir Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III of Berk.

He had changed out of his coronation clothes to a strange type of leather Viking armor. He had on a basic tunic, worn leather pants, and there was dark-colored metal plating his shoulders and upper chest, along with a set of arm brackets. On one of the metal-plated shoulders was a red sigil of what appeared to be some sort of dragon all curled up, and on his one good foot was a sturdy leather boot to help him navigate in the snow. There was also something attached to his hip that looked like it was supposed to be the hilt for a sword, but strangely enough, there was no blade attached, and the basket that he had been carrying on his back was surprisingly empty.

He was dressed for winter, but it didn't look like he had been planning to leave the castle like the three of them had, or at least not in terms of a long journey like they had been about to embark on.

So what on earth was the heir to the visiting Viking tribe doing all the way out here?

How could they have known that Hiccup had merely been returning from visiting his Night Fury dragon hidden less than a hundred yards away from here in a thicket of snow-covered evergreens so he could make sure his buddy got a decent fish dinner, hence the empty basket, and had even gone on a quick nighttime joyride high above the clouds for a little bit of fun?

They couldn't have, that's how.

And how could they know that that same dragon had heard its human companion cry out in alarm before he was so rudely knocked out by the Coronan princess, and despite how bitterly cold it was from this unnatural winter, it was now slowly rising to its feet and stumbling as fast as it could on its frozen stiff legs to find Hiccup, as it could not fly without the teenager operating the prosthetic tail fin in the intricate pedal-system attached to the leather saddle. Not that going by foot did the dragon much good since it was so cold. If it were not so cold, the dragon would be racing across the forest floor at top speed and would be on top of all three girls and their horses in two seconds flat, but because of the abrupt change weather, it was all stiff now and moving only slightly faster than a snail at the moment.

The dragon could only hope that it could find Hiccup in time before anything bad happened to him.

But again, Elsa, Rapunzel, and Merida did not know this, and as soon as Rapunzel had hopped down from atop Maximus's back to get a closer look, the three of them crowded around the unconscious auburn-haired boy.

"Hiccup…" Rapunzel whispered in horror, the blood draining from her face as she realized what she had done. "Hiccup!"

"He's not dead," Elsa quickly assured her. "Just knocked out. You hit him hard."

"I'll fix that!" Merida said at once with a sharp growl.

Both the queen and the princess turned to look at the Scottish girl in confusion, but upon seeing her yanking out the arrow that had hit the trunk of the tree by accident and fix it into place in her bow, they quickly blocked her view of the lifeless Viking teen.

"Are you insane?!" Rapunzel hissed, quickly dropping her frying pan to fight with Merida over her bow. "You can't kill him!"

"Watch me!" Merida snapped back, her eyes alight with fury as she tried to wrestle the end of the bow Rapunzel had grabbed out of her grip. "He's a Viking! An enemy to my country! I'll enjoy delivering him to whatever he and his people call the afterlife!"

Elsa's eyes narrowed, and she pointedly grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around so she was staring her right in the eye. "You kill him, and I will charge you with murder! You are _not_ in your own country right now, Princess Merida! Both you and he are guests here, and you will abide by my country's laws! He surprised us just now, so I am not angry with Rapunzel for knocking him out, but if you harm so much as one hair on his head, I will have you imprisoned in the castle dungeons!"

Merida's blue eyes grew icy cold. "My parents will fight you on that, _your majesty!"_ she snipped.

"Yes, undoubtedly," Elsa readily agreed, "but they will also know that I would have been acting in the way that any king or queen would to any murderer, regardless of their station in life. You hurt him, and there will be serious repercussions, I can assure you of that."

There was a long pause as Merida glared at Elsa with nothing short of venom in her eyes, but then finally she let out a somewhat loud cry of frustration before lowering her bow.

"Damn you! Damn you both!" she growled. "If we can't kill him, then what do you propose we do?!"

Rapunzel bit her lower lip. "We should take him back to the castle," she suggested. "His father and the others in his tribe will be worried about him."

Elsa sighed as she rubbed her temples. "Normally, I would agree with you, Rapunzel. Returning him to the castle would be the decent thing to do. Unfortunately, that is not an option."

"What? But why?"

"Because if we take him back, we will be forced to explain to everyone what happened and why we were out here. Granted, we have no idea what he is doing out here right now, but we will have to explain that we were planning to go after Jack and Emma. And they will undoubtedly prevent us from trying to go after them a second time."

"But… But we can't just leave him like this out here! He'll freeze to death!"

"Yes. Yes, I am well aware of that. Give me a moment to think…"

"Oh, for the love of all things good and holy, give me permission to kill him already! What do you intend to do otherwise, Elsa?! Take him with us?!"

Silence reigned through the night as soon as that half-made suggestion by Merida was thrown out into the air.

Slowly, Elsa and Rapunzel turned to Merida, and immediately, Merida's furious expression became twice as cross.

"Oh, no! No! No way! I was joking when I said that!"

"Do you see any alternative, Merida?"

"I refuse to travel with a savage Viking!"

"Leaving him behind is out of the question, as is taking him to the castle. There is no other choice."

"Wait, hold on. We can't just take him out into the woods like this. We could be accused of kidnapping!"

"Rapunzel, we either take him with us, we leave him out here to possibly freeze to death, or we return him to the palace where we will undoubtedly be prevented from doing this. Which is the better option?"

"And just how do you suggest we take him with us, Elsa?! He's knocked out now, but as soon as he wakes up, he's going to make a run for it!"

"In the middle of nowhere out in the forest while there's snow in every direction?"

"I would chance it if I was kidnapped! I mean, it's not like we have anything to tie him up with!"

Elsa was silent for a moment as she realized that Merida made a valid point there, but then Rapunzel hesitantly spoke up as she swung her heavy blonde braid out from around her shoulders.

"Well… actually there is…" she said in a quiet voice.

Elsa and Merida both turned to look at her with queer expressions, but before they could ask what she meant, Rapunzel fiddled with the end of her long braid until she pulled off the hair tie at the end of it that kept her hair in the tight up-do, and then slowly began to unwind the main coils of her golden-blonde hair.

The Arendelle queen and the Dunbroch princess watched in astonishment as the Coronan princess unwound more and more of her hair until finally, she pulled out enough of the braid to be able to tie up Hiccup, while leaving enough that she wouldn't have to worry about it tugging too hard on her head.

"This should be sufficient," she said, holding up several bundles of the long blonde locks as she looked at Elsa and Merida.

Elsa and Merida still stared at her in complete bewilderment for a few moments longer, but then Merida broke the silence.

"You… You want to tie him up in your _hair?"_

"It'll hold, I promise. I actually did this to Eugene the day I met him. He broke into the tower my kidnapper hid me away in and I knocked him out with my frying pan before tying him up."

Her words only served to make Elsa and Merida even more shocked.

"You did this before with your fiancé?" Elsa repeated.

"Yeah… but in my defense, he _did_ technically break into what I considered at the time to be my house. I defended myself against what I thought was someone who was trying to kidnap me from who I assumed to be my mother!"

There was another long pause, but then finally Merida shrugged.

"So long as we tightly wrap it around him a couple of times, it should work, but he's riding with you, Rapunzel! I refuse to ride on the same horse as him!"

"Fair enough."

"Then let's hurry. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can continue on. And Merida? Take that strange sword hilt from him. I do not know what that thing is, but we shouldn't leave him with a possible weapon."

Merida nodded, and quickly pried the strange sword hilt without a blade from Hiccup's hip and stuffed it in her quiver before helping Elsa and Rapunzel in tightly looping the Coronan princess's hair several times around his unconscious form, making it impossible for him to move whenever he woke up. And then, working together, the three of them somehow managed to lift him up out of the snow, and proceeded to drape him over Maximus's back, just behind the saddle so that Rapunzel would still have room to ride.

"What do we do about the basket?" Rapunzel asked.

Elsa was considerably quiet for a time, but then she finally sighed.

"Take it with us, I suppose. It's not like we can leave it behind. Someone will eventually find it. Why don't you store your frying pan inside it for now, Rapunzel?"

"Oh! Good idea!"

Without a word, the Coronan princess packed her cooking-utensil-turned-weapon away inside the basket, and then slung the straps on over her shoulders.

As soon as she was done, the girls quickly remounted the horses.

"Are we forgetting anything else?" Merida asked.

"No, I don't think so," Elsa replied. "Let's go."

Her two companions nodded, and with sharp snaps of the reins from her and Rapunzel, Sitron and Maximus took off again in fast sprints down the snow-covered forest path.

All of them were unaware however that what they had just done had not gone unnoticed.

After a minute or so after they were all completely out of sight, a large black reptilian head broke out from the tree line, and its emerald green eyes looked about wildly for any sign of its precious human companion. When the dragon finally realized that Hiccup was nowhere to be seen, it let out an angry roar.

While the dragon didn't know or understand why the queen and the two princesses had taken his special friend, he did understand this:

Hiccup had been taken away.

His human was in grave danger.

And he needed him.

His usually round and happy eyes narrowed with anger, and then he started shuffling through the snow as fast as he could after the girls who had taken his boy.

Those girls had better be ready.

Because when Toothless finally caught up to them, there would be hell to pay.

* * *

But little did the new queen and the two princesses know, they weren't the only ones embarking on a journey to try and find the magical Jackson Overland.

For completely different reasons than theirs, so was a certain mountaineer ice harvester.

"Kristoff, put a hat on! Heaven knows it's going to be freezing out there as soon as you leave the valley!"

"Yeah, sure, Mama Bulda. Let me just heave this one last sack into Sven's sleigh first."

"No, now, Kristoff. You always brush things off 'til later and never remember to do them."

"Fine, fine. I'll get a hat on…"

Eighteen-year-old Kristoff Bjorgman rolled his eyes at his adoptive rock troll mother as he grabbed his dark colored bobble-hat and jammed it on over his short golden-blonde hair. Despite technically being a grown-up now and having his own decent profession as one of the many Arendelle ice harvesters, he was still fussed over by Bulda the same way that he had when he and his reindeer pal first stumbled into the Valley of the Living Rocks ten years ago.

It could be annoying at times how much she and the other members of his rock troll family doted on him, but still, if given the choice, Kristoff wouldn't change one thing about any of the kind and loving mythical creatures that took him and Sven in when they were little.

They were his family.

That was something that he had often doubted he would ever have back when he was a kid.

As soon as he got his hat on his head, slid his arms inside a warm outer tunic that would protect him from the cold as soon as he left the valley, and pulled on a pair of strong dark brown boots that would serve him well in his journey through the mountains, Kristoff grabbed hold of the last sack that he needed to pack into his brand new sleigh, and slung it over his shoulder. Then he finally ventured out from behind the set of tall rocks he had been changing behind to be face to face with all the rock troll tribe members, who he found to be looking up at him with big, bright eyes and cheerfully smiling faces.

"We're all rooting for you, Kristoff!"

"You'll make us proud, no matter what happens!"

"Do your best, you hear?"

"We're all depending on you, Kristoff! The future of Arendelle is depending on you!"

"Bring him back, all right? Bring back Manny's chosen one!"

Kristoff felt his cheeks redden from everything the trolls were telling him. "I… I'll do what I can," he promised. "I'll find Jack and bring him back here. I'll bring him here and maybe there's still a chance at correcting both this winter _and_ dealing with the Boogeyman. If the Man in the Moon's prediction has finally started happening, Jack has no idea what he's up against, and if this snow in summer is any indication, he still doesn't have the faintest clue what his center is."

The other trolls all nodded at that last bit as they exchanged murmurs amongst themselves about what was currently happening outside their valley.

The Valley of the Living Rocks was situated on an area of land that had natural hot springs and geysers so the trolls' home was not currently covered with thick layers of snow because the cold temperatures did not affect the valley at all. However, the rest of the kingdom was not so lucky. Kristoff had been fast asleep in his mossy bed curled up beside Sven when Bulda had shaken him awake with cries of alarm and proceeded to explain to him and his animal companion about the snow in the middle of summer. Kristoff had been instantly awake and allowed his mother figure to drag him to the clearing in the valley where everyone was gathering around Grand Pabbie, who was apparently in the middle of some type of silent conversation with the moon in the sky.

After what had seemed like an eternity, Pabbie had turned to all of them and explained that things with the magical boy that they had been first introduced to ten years ago – on coincidentally the same night they met Kristoff and Sven – had reached the breaking point with his magic. He had lost control of them and apparently ran away from the castle right after he set off the unnatural winter. And on top of that, the Nightmare King had evidently decided to strike back against humanity in the kingdom mere minutes after he took off.

Kristoff still remembered how he felt when first saw the Boogeyman so many years ago. He didn't exactly have monstrous features, but he was still pretty spooky-looking, what with his creepy yellow eyes and the way those black clothes of his swirled about in the shadows.

If Pitch was using Jack's accidental unleashing of his powers as a way to strike fear in people's hearts…

That was bad.

Really, _really_ bad.

And that meant that the rock trolls could no longer wait for the day to come for Jack to find them of his own free will.

Everyone had initially agreed a while back that Kristoff should go to Arendelle under the pretense of making an ice delivery next week to try and officially 'meet' Jack. As Kristoff was an ice harvester himself, the mountaineer had heard all about how the magical boy who was employed as a servant in the castle was apparently looking for room and board for new work as an ice harvester up in the mountains, and to be allowed to have his younger sister tag along for the ride. Why Jack wanted to leave his well-paying job in the palace to live on mere handouts out in the middle of nowhere, none of them knew, but upon learning this, the rock troll clan had thought of it as an opportunity. They wished to invite Jack to come back to their valley, with the hopes of trying to better explain the things that were happening to him with his powers now that he was older and could hear everything that they had to say with an open mind.

Or at least that had been the plan until tonight.

Now that Jack had run off and Pitch Black was out there either terrorizing humanity to draw out the Guardians or tracking Jack down, they had to interfere.

Or rather, Kristoff and Sven had to interfere.

While the Man in the Moon had forbidden the trolls from interfering with things involving Jack unless the boy came to them willingly, the moon had never forbidden their human charge or his pet reindeer from getting involved.

Kristoff was the only person in all of Arendelle that could go after Jack and tell him that he knew someone that could explain to him what was going on with his ice and snow powers, and lead him to the trolls.

The fate of the entire kingdom was on his shoulders.

Even if the rest of the kingdom didn't know it.

As Kristoff trudged his way past the rest of the trolls still smiling up at him, he approached his best friend attached to the brand-new sled the mountaineer man had bought only a few weeks ago, which was currently parked at the very edge of the clearing, right near the pathway that led out of the valley and back into the mountains. Sven pawed the ground happily when he saw his human friend approach with the last sack full of supplies on his shoulder.

"'Kristoff! Hurry up! We gotta get going!'" Kristoff jokingly verbalized for Sven's thought process. "Yeah, yeah, boy! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

The other trolls couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. Their human boy's habit of vocalizing whatever Sven wanted to say was an unusual habit, but still quite humorous in their eyes.

As soon as Kristoff finally made it to the sled, he dumped the sack he had been carrying into the back of the sled and double-checked that he had all the necessary provisions.

Sack of additional warm clothing?

Check.

Sack of food for him and carrots for Sven?

Check.

An ice pick and some rope just in case something should happen?

Check.

His favorite lute?

Check.

Yep. He was definitely set and ready to go.

Just as he was about to climb up into the sleigh, however, Grand Pabbie suddenly made his way through the cluster of trolls so as to speak with him, and Kristoff immediately turned and bent down on one knee to be on the same level as his adoptive grandfather.

"Grand Pabbie?"

"I just want to make sure you remember what it is you have to say to Jack to convince him to come here," the elder troll said. "Do you remember, Kristoff?"

Kristoff nodded. "I tell him that I'm an official human representative for all of you, and that I've come to him on your behalf to invite him back here where you can explain why he has his ice and snow magic."

"Good. And if he initially refuses to come along?"

"I tell him that there's a lot more riding on his shoulders because of his powers than he realizes, because at the end of the day, he alone is the one who can save everything. But the only way he can find out how is if he comes back here with Sven and me."

"Right. You got it then."

"Good luck, Kristoff," Bulda said suddenly, stepping out from where she had been standing off to the side to fuss over the state of his clothes one last time, just like how any normal mother would. "Everyone is depending on you! Bring Jack here so we can try to prepare him for the Man in the Moon's final test."

Her adoptive human son smiled in return. "I will, Mama Bulda. I won't let you down. I'll be back soon. But Grand Pabbie? Did Manny happen to mention which way Jack went when he ran away from the castle?"

"Manny says that he was heading in the direction of the North Mountain."

"Got it. I'll be back very soon, I swear. Right, Sven?"

The reindeer bobbed his head enthusiastically up and down in reply.

"'Yeah, if we're lucky, we'll be back tomorrow night if things go well.'"

The trolls all laughed a bit at that response.

"Let's hope so, Kristoff, Sven. Let's hope so…" Grand Pabbie chuckled.

"I'll be going then!"

Without another word, the rugged blonde boy climbed up into the passenger seat of his sled and picked up Sven's reins. He paused momentarily to wave goodbye to all his rock troll friends and family, and then gave the reins a sharp snap with a quick flick of the wrist.

"Let's go, buddy," he told the reindeer.

Sven snorted, but nonetheless took off at a decent trot down the winding path that led out of the valley, and Kristoff turned and waved goodbye one final time to all those in the clearing that cheered after them as they went, before focusing his attention on the road ahead.

"Okay then," the mountaineer awkwardly chuckled. "Find the boy blessed by the moon, convince him to come back here to learn about his powers, and somehow avoid a certain Boogeyman that will undoubtedly hunt us down should he realize what we're up to… Doesn't sound all that hard, right, Sven?"

The reindeer rolled his eyes as he continued to pull the sleight down the path.

"'Speak for yourself! You're not the one doing all the heavy duty work here!'"

* * *

The snow glowed white near the peak of the North Mountain that night as fat and fluffy snowflakes lazily descended from the sky, leaving no footprint to be seen. The wind was howling from somewhere in the distance back in the direction of the faraway capitol city, hinting at the unexpected swirling storm that had erupted back in Arendelle right after the mishap with ice magic at the new Queen Elsa's coronation party. But the sole person wandering around on the mountain, a dark-haired teen boy dressed up smartly in the royal castle servant uniform but missing a glove and a boot, was unaware of the events that had taken place in the kingdom following his hasty departure, and continued trudging along miserably through the depths of the snow.

Jackson Overland had not dared to stop running all night long. It was amazing how far he had managed to travel, running all the way from Arendelle to the peak of the tallest, coldest snow-covered mountain in the kingdom on foot and while missing a boot, but he was so scared and pumped with adrenaline when he initially left that it wasn't all that surprising. All he wanted was to put as much distance between himself and every other person in the city he could possibly hurt with his stupid ice and snow powers. Every time the poor frightened boy thought about slowing down and daring a small peek over his shoulders to see whether his sister, the new queen, or indeed anyone at all was possibly following him, he would instantly remember the way everyone gazed at him with such fear in their eyes and immediately stop himself from looking back. And after hearing his friend the wind whisper a few more encouraging words in his ear to keep going, Jack would shake his head of any such thoughts about turning right around and heading back to the castle and would force himself to continue on.

But by this point, though, the rush of fear that had prompted his flight from Arendelle had mostly dissipated, and Jack couldn't help but slow his pace down to a simple walk.

Despite the naturally freezing cold temperature on the North Mountain, Jack didn't feel cold. He _never_ once in his life felt cold before, so the chilly climate wasn't a problem in the slightest, but still, he shuffled slowly through the snow as he wandered around aimlessly.

Truth be told, Jack had no idea what to do next.

When he ran away from Arendelle, he hadn't thought ahead as to what he would do once he managed to get here. His only thought was to get as far away as he could from Emma, Elsa, and everyone else he could possibly hurt with his horrible ice powers. He had listened to the call of the wind as it guided him through the forest, whispering to him to keep running and not stop until he got here. But now that he was here, Jack didn't know what he was supposed to do, nor did he have any indication as to why he didn't feel the slightest bit fatigued from running away.

Even though he should be exhausted from the adrenaline rush he was winding down from, and considering he had gotten barely any sleep the night prior from all the nightmares he had dreamt up about all the things that had could go at Elsa's coronation party, he didn't feel tired at all.

He knew he should, but he didn't.

He just wasn't craving sleep.

Jack didn't know what to make of this, why he didn't feel the urge to rest himself and reenergize, but he did have to admit that not needing to sleep was a definite perk to everything that had unfortunately happened tonight. While the dark-haired teen was still heartbroken that he had to leave everything he had ever known behind him when he ran away, especially his sister and the girl he was secretly in love with, not needing to sleep right now was a relief.

Because nine times out of ten, he had nightmares about the things he could do with his powers to those around him.

Now he didn't have to fear seeing the people he loved get hurt in his dreams.

He didn't have to fear for other people, period.

He was far away from the kingdom of Arendelle and anyone he could possibly hurt.

He was the only person around for miles out here on the North Mountain.

He was in a kingdom of isolation, and it looked like he was now this land's faithful servant.

It was a relief, but at the same time, it was a rather sad notion, too.

Jack let out a depressed sigh, and then glanced upwards at the large dark clouds that blocked out the stars in the night sky.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Mom, King Agnar, Queen Idun," he mumbled in a low tone, his eyes becoming slightly moist. "I… I couldn't keep it in anymore. Heaven knows I tried… I really did try!"

The wind spun a bit around him, trying to soothe him in his distress.

 _Jack…_

Jack ignored the whisper in the breeze as he continued marching across the snowy, rocky landscape. He was apologizing to his mother and the late king and queen right now for failing in the one important thing they had always taught him to do. Considering how his invisible friend had always tried to convince him not to hide his powers in the past, he didn't want it to distract him right now while he did this.

"'Don't let them in, don't let them see… Be the good boy you always have to be…' That's what you all always told me to do…" he said to the night. "'Conceal, don't feel… Don't… Don't let them know…'"

For ten years, that little phrase that Kirsten, Tobias, and the late King Agnar and Queen Idun had taught Jack had been his sacred mantra. It had been his way of coping with the internal stress that concealing his powers put on his emotional and physical state of being. While Jack felt nothing at all about what his father's motives had been for teaching him to hide his powers from other people, he did know that his mother and the previous king and queen of Arendelle had only been trying to help him, and he didn't hate them in the slightest for that. But even so… their idea of dealing with his powers by telling him to keep his ice and snow bottled up inside so that no one would find out about them not only caused him a great deal of stress on both his body and mind, it hadn't worked in the end. Their efforts to help him had been to no avail, and he had failed them.

At the end of the day, hiding his powers really didn't matter anymore.

Not when royals, nobles, and foreign dignitaries from all of the most prominent kingdoms in Northern Europe had seen them firsthand.

The moment Jack thought this, he blinked a bit at the sudden realization, and then the first smile to cross his lips since he accidentally used his powers back in the castle ballroom slowly spread across his face.

With a small laugh to himself, he glanced down at the one hand that still had its white glove on. What was the point of hiding his powers behind the barrier of finely made white silk?

None whatsoever.

"Aw, screw it! Now they all know!"

With that final excited yell, Jack ripped the loathed white glove off his right hand and threw it up high in the air. The wind became alive with joy at seeing Jack finally rid himself of the horrible article of clothing that kept his wonderful magic sealed away, and without having to be asked to do so, a strong gust of air carried the offending white glove high up in the sky, far away from the boy who had used it the past ten years to keep his true nature hidden away from the rest of the world.

 _Let it go, Jack… Let it go…_

And let it go he did, as he couldn't hold it back anymore.

With another rather happy chuckle, Jack felt his ice magic gathering in the palms of his hands, and for the first time in over ten years, he let it go free around him without fearing the repercussions of releasing his powers.

Tendrils of icy white snowflakes erupted from one hand, and then the other, making small flurries in the breeze. The wind loved how he was wholeheartedly embracing his powers, and it rustled his smooth and flat hair affectionately before gathering around the snow he had made, carrying it away high in the air to join the other snowflakes in the sky slowly falling to the snowy earth.

Jack was giddy with happiness as he saw how the wind played with his magic. That had been rather fun, but there was still so much more he could safely do with his powers out here.

Things that could wind up being even more fun.

Having fun was something he had been forced to deprive himself of ever since his accident with Elsa, Anna, and little Emma back when he was a kid.

Not that remembering the accident that hurt his two friends and frightened his sister was at all enjoyable, but before that fateful event, the memory of all of them happily playing with his powers in the Great Hall had been one of the best midnight playtimes in his life.

In fact, who was around right now to tell him that he couldn't bring back that wonder he had initially felt that night before everything went so terribly wrong?

No one. No one at all.

He had ice and snow magic at his disposal, and an entire mountainside worth of snow to use as his playground.

No one was around to stop him from recreating one of the best parts about that midnight playtime before he accidentally struck Elsa and Anna with his magic.

He grinned as the memory of a certain snowman he had once made with Elsa and Anna and had a small argument over naming it afterwards popped into his head, and with a few good waves of his bare hands, an exact replica of the small snowman appeared right in front of him, looking just as unconventional as he remembered making it with them way back when. The biggest oval shape ball was used for the head with a carved out, single bucktooth used for its mouth, the smallest snowball was in the middle, and the middle-sized one was on the bottom. The only differences in this snowman from the one he had built with Elsa and Anna back when he was a boy, was that he decided upon building it that it needed a pair of legs, so he sculpted out two additional small mounds of snow underneath the middle-sized bottom snowball to be used as legs, and that it was missing some sticks for the arms and wisps of hair, some little rocks for the eyes and buttons, and a carrot for the nose.

No matter. Except for the nose, those things were easily fixable.

"Hey, Wind!" he called out. "Think you can find me some sticks for the arms and a couple twigs for the hair? I'll deal with the eyes."

The wind whistled out an affirmative in his ear, and within seconds, the gale shot off down the mountain in search of a tree with some bare branches and twigs.

Jack meanwhile approached a rocky wall not too far away from where he constructed the replica snowman, and began searching around the base of it for a few moments until he managed to find a handful of small, round rocks that would serve his snow creation well as makeshift eyes and buttons. As he headed back to the miniature snowman and carefully set two of the stones into place on its face with the remaining three set into its main body to be used for buttons, the wind came rushing back up from down the mountain, and twirling around in the airstream were two somewhat long sticks and a few tiny twigs, which all plopped down into a pile near his feet.

"Thanks, my friend! That was quick, I gotta say!"

The wind played teasingly with his smooth and combed back brown hair in reply.

Jack chuckled at his own imaginary friend, and then stuck the two large sticks onto either side of the small snowman's body before poking each of the tiny twigs straight up at the very top of its long, oval-shaped head.

Now, excluding the fact that it had no carrot for a nose like the original snowman he had made with Elsa and Anna back when he was a kid, this snowman was almost exactly the same.

It was just missing the perfect name.

Naming it all over again though made Jack pause.

Should he name it Frosty like he had initially wanted to back when he was a boy? Two-month-old Emma had liked that name, after all…

But on the other hand, the original snowman had been named Olaf. Elsa had named it that…

He puzzled over this for a few seconds, but then the perfect solution came to mind.

He was having fun with his powers right now, wasn't he?

So who was around to tell him that this snowman had to have only _one_ name?

After all, if on the offshoot chance that he could somehow make the snowman walk and talk just like the real Frosty the Snowman, he wanted it to not only have the super awesome name of Frosty that he and Emma both liked, but also the kind, friendly, and sweet personality of Olaf, the name Elsa and Anna had both loved.

He beamed as he bent down on one knee, created a single, magical white snowflake in the palm of his hand, and let it soar through the air until it landed right at the very top of the tiny snowman's head, where it exploded into at least a hundred more sparkly snowflakes that covered the snowman from head to toe.

"I hereby dub thee, the Great Frosty the Snowman! Guardian of everything fun and magical in all of Arendelle!" he happily proclaimed. "But at the same time, I declare that you are also named Olaf! And you like warm hugs!"

It was all very silly, but Jack didn't care.

It was just a game.

It's not like his powers would make the snowman come to life and make the poor creature confused as to what its proper name even was.

With an amused snort at that last thought, Jack patted Frosty and Olaf the Snowman affectionately on the head one final time, rose back up to his feet, and continued on his merry way across the mountain peak, completely unaware of what his powers had done to the little snow buddy when he made that one snowflake that morphed into many when it tapped the snowman on the head.

As Jack walked along the snowy banks, he made more streams of snow flurries fly out from his hands. A few of them he had shoot upwards towards the sky, and others he had zoom out to either side of him to make the snow on a few nearby snowbanks twirl in the air a bit with the new snow he mixed in.

He was greatly entertained by this, but then he realized that he was still wearing the green Arendelle servant jacket. He had always loved his mother, but he had hated how she made him learn the duties for being a castle butler and wear this stupid jacket. It made him look uptight and proper. While he maintained that persona around other people back in the castle to keep his emotions buried deep inside and keep the people he cared about at arms' length, he wasn't a proper and dignified boy on the inside.

No, somewhere deep inside him, Jack could feel the personality of his little eight-year-old self who had loved to play and have fun every moment of the day with his wonderful ice and snow magic slowly resurfacing.

And that younger version of himself didn't want him to continue pretending to be something he was not.

He was turning away from his old life and effectively slamming the door on his sad and lonely past.

And in this new life, he didn't care at all what the people down in the city had to say about his magic.

From now on, his opinion was the only one that mattered.

And in his opinion, wearing a stupid and uncomfortable jacket like this was ridiculous and completely unnecessary!

With a snicker, Jack all but yanked open all the black buttons for his green servant jacket until he could finally shrug himself out of the coat, and without a single hesitation whatsoever, Jack let the wind whipping past him carry the jacket faraway in the breeze to someplace where he would never have to look upon it again. He didn't dare look back at the coat as it was carried away by his invisible friend. He had no regrets at all in being rid of it. He might still be dressed in the traditional white button-down shirt underneath, was wearing the itchy black servant pants, had one of the black leather boots on his feet, and had the white ruffled neckerchief tied around his neck with the golden crocus pin of the Arendelle royal family's mark of high servitude attached, but just by shedding himself of the green formal servant apparel, Jack felt a tremendous weight he had never even realized he had been carrying for the past ten years lift right off his shoulders.

He was well aware of the fact that he had always been highly stressed while living constantly on the edge from fear of his magic back in the castle, but until now, Jack had never realized just how stressed he really was.

Well, no more!

Those days were all officially done!

He whooped and cheered at the top of his lungs as he started sprinting as fast as he could to the edge of a great ravine a little way ahead.

"Hey, Wind!" the Overland teenager yelled. "I should have followed your advice to run away from Arendelle years ago! It's funny how some distance makes everything back there seem so small!"

The wind was highly amused.

 _The fears that once controlled you down there in the city can't get to you here…_

Jack's whole face lit up. "They can't? Really?" he asked, his voice filled to the breaking point with utter joy and hope.

 _No… You'll be safe up here…_

Jack's wholehearted whoop of joy echoed loudly through the mountain pass when he heard the wind whisper that to him. He had been waiting all his life to hear someone say that he was someplace where he could use his powers safely without fearing for the safety of others.

He skidded to a halt when he made it to the edge of the cliff. There was an opposing cliff directly across from him with a nice, flat and large area of untouched powder-white snow splayed across it. It was the perfect stretch of land for him to settle down on and get situated for his new life of complete isolation from the rest of the world.

The only problem?

The gap between his cliff and the opposing one had to be at least forty yards long, and the drop down into the frozen ravine below was a hundred stories high, if not more.

Any other sane person would have automatically turned around and forgotten all about trying to cross such a treacherous gap between two such cliffs, but not Jack.

No, he had his awesome ice and snow powers on his side!

It was time he saw just what he could do with his powers! To test them to their very limits!

Jack chuckled, and with sharp waves with both his bare hands, snow and frost shot out from his palms to create a frost-covered snow staircase bridge that connected his cliff to the opposite one. It wasn't very sturdy, considering it was made from snow and frost rather than his regular ice. One good rush of wind would probably cause the entire thing to collapse in half a second.

It seemed like it needed a little extra push of wintry magic from him for it to become encased in ice. But how could he make it stronger if his hands didn't have the capability?

The Overland teen puzzled for a moment on what to do, but then he happened to glance downward at the ground near his feet. Upon seeing his one bare foot and the other still clad in the black leather boot he had been wearing with his servant uniform, a wild idea came to his mind.

His feet also had a tendency to make solid ice appear from under him, hence the reason he always kept them covered in his boots while growing up, but if he shed himself of the boot he was still wearing, could they solidify the bridge into ice like he wanted it to be initially?

Jack's face broke out into a wide, excited smile as he considered this, and then he bent down and frantically started tugging his boot's laces free of the tight knot he had tied them in this morning when putting it on.

If keeping his gloves on his hands at all times was an important rule the adults in his life had taught him to never break, wearing his boots was another one. If his father was around right now, Jack didn't doubt that that asshole wouldn't hesitate to break his legs to keep him from standing up on his bare feet, and taking the risk that ice and frost would form around him when his feet touched the ground. And if his mother and the late king and queen were still alive, he was sure they would be horrified by what he was doing, willingly removing the one glove and boot he still had on to fully embrace his powers.

Well, none of them were here right now!

In his personal winter wonderland, there were no rights, no wrongs, and no rules for him!

Just fun games and winter spectaculars!

Out here on the North Mountain, he could be free!

When he finally kicked the boot off, Jack's smile only grew bigger and brighter as he let his toes sink down deep into the beautiful, smooth surface of the snow in front of him. He had forgotten how good it felt to be barefoot all the time. His toes being squeezed together in those boots his parents and the king and queen made him wear? Talk about painful! Nope, no more boots for him! From this day forward, he was going barefoot all the time!

After a while of enjoying the pleasant feeling of having his feet enjoy the fresh air and curl down around the powdery white substance of the snow coating the mountain, Jack looked up and saw the snow bridge he had made still waiting in front of him, and he forced himself to move on. He hesitated only for a moment as he raised his right foot in the air, weighing the pros and cons of setting it down on the snow covered bridge he had made. If his theory was correct that his bare feet would turn the snow into ice the second he transferred his weight onto the bridge, he could reach the other cliff no problem! But if he was wrong, and his foot simply sunk right down through the snow, he was facing a fall to imminent death down the hundred foot drop in the ravine.

It was rather nerve-wracking, but there was only one way to find out for sure.

He had to take this leap of faith and believe that his powers would help him.

With a firm nod to himself for some desperately needed confidence, Jack sucked in a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and then set his foot down on the first step of the snowy staircase bridge.

Just as he had hoped, his bare foot landed right on the frosty stair step, freezing it to crystal clear ice as a snowflake emblem appeared underneath him, fading away into nothingness after a few short moments.

Jack's eyes slowly opened again when he felt the solid surface underneath him, and after verifying that his feet could indeed freeze the snow into ice and carry him across the gorge, his face broke back out into a beaming smile, and then he held out his palms again to create more of the bridge as he moved, and dashed as fast as he could across the staircase bridge he made. With every step he took while hooting and hollering happily at the top of his lungs, the snow transformed into beautiful ice underneath him, creating a flawlessly perfect staircase of ice with an intricately crafted railing all the way across the expanse of the gap to reach the other cliff.

"Woohoo! I'm totally in sync with you right now, Wind! I am one with the wind and sky!" he joyously bellowed.

The wind whistled happily in return as it created blustery air currents to whip through the air alongside him.

 _Be happy, Jack…_

Jack let out a hearty guffaw as he finally made it to the opposite cliff side.

"I will, Wind! You'll never see me cry out here, I promise! I can't remember the last time I was ever this happy!"

His imaginary friend tickled his neatly combed hair again, but Jack paid this no mind, as he was now appraising the vast expanse of smoothed out snowy land spread out in front of him. It was even larger than he had expected it to be at first glance back on the other side of the staircase ice bridge. He had initially intended just to construct himself a tiny house out of ice with his powers, but now that he saw just how big and wide this area of the mountain really was, the locked away creative side of his imagination that had enjoyed doing whacky things with his powers was going into serious overdrive.

He might only be a boy of humble birth and would never come close to being a prince or a king or some other type of hoity-toity noble lord, but who said that he had to live out the rest of his life alone out here on the mountain in some little ice hut or a dreary mountain cave?

He may have run away from his job and duties as a butler and shepherd in Elsa's castle back in Arendelle, but as he never officially turned in his green servant jacket and resignation papers to her and Anna before he took off, he was still technically employed and was still considered to be a castle servant.

Well, if he was still a servant, then he needed a castle to serve in!

Without thinking twice about it, Jack ran forward a bit so that he was in the exact center of the flat, snowy strip of land, and stomped one of his feet down hard.

A gigantic snowflake appeared underneath him, but unlike all the previous ones he had made up until now, this one did not vanish immediately right after appearing. It remained on the ground as it continued to grow bigger and even more intricately detailed with every passing second, until at last it became the equivalency of an entire snowflake-shaped floor made entirely out of ice. Jack grinned happily when he saw the basis of his castle was ready, and then he raised his arms in a silent plea for the ice to rise.

And rise it did.

Enormous pillars of smooth and solid ice rose from the ground underneath the snowflake-shaped floor he had first made, and pushed the beautiful floor upwards toward the heavens. Jack didn't even bother waving his arms to make the pillars stop moving when his new ballroom floor kept rising higher and higher into the air. Somehow, he had this unexplainable feeling deep inside him that the pillars would stop moving on their own once the floor reached the height he had initially wanted it to be. Besides, he was having too much fun doing this, designing his own amazing ice palace! Why should he worry about the pillars underneath the ballroom when he had so many cool and awesome things he wanted to incorporate into his very own castle, like a balcony to lead off from the ballroom and maybe even some super awesome top secret icy passageways?!

And so, with nothing limiting Jack in his construction of this amazing ice castle except the boundaries of his imagination, he continued waving his arms around himself as he spun around, willing his magic to come forth and help him create this spectacular sanctuary for himself. The ice shot up from the snowflake-shaped floor and created walls with several naves along the sides of the ballroom. While the pillars were undoubtedly impressive, the walls were made of such shiny and flawlessly smooth ice, they acted almost like mirrors instead of walls. He even created a series of lampstands of ice sticking out from them as well. With an additional wave of his hands, more ice appeared inside the holder of each one of them that produced such a beautiful, iridescent glow, it lit up the entire interior of the grand ice ballroom. How Jack knew how to do that when he never really experimented with his powers too much until now except for back when he was a kid, he didn't know, but who cared? Making them was fun, and what mattered was that they still provided an additional means of light inside the room should the impressive snowflake emblemed doors that led out to the grand ice balcony overlooking the entire mountainside were closed off.

Not that Jack ever intended to close those balcony doors all that often. Now that he was living in isolation, he didn't have to keep his voice down whenever he talked to his invisible friend in the wind. True, Jack still wasn't sure whether or not the fact that he talked to the wind was proof that he could possibly be crazy, but even if he was insane, he was staying in solitude from now on. There would be no one around to declare him as such now, so he didn't have to keep his friendship with the breeze a secret. He could keep those balcony doors all the time and talk to it whenever he pleased.

With another rush of magic, Jack focused his attention down at the floor, and created an additional coating of ice on his personal snowflake crest that was imprinted on the ballroom floor, and then willed his ice and snow to travel up on the castle walls. His powers flurried through the air to create thousands upon thousands of intricately detailed designs and carvings on each of the walls to add a little flourish to the overall layout of the room, but they didn't stop there. Jack's powers continued to construct more and more ice higher up until he at last willed them to finally make a skylight ceiling overhead to protect him from the elements outside, but would still allow him to be able to look up and see the stars shining brightly in the sky at night. And as his ice did so, they spiraled in frozen fractals in the very center of the iced skylight ceiling until they transformed into the most beautiful, blue iridescent chandelier imaginable. Just like with the ice lamps that dotted the walls, the chandelier produced an equally lustrous blue radiance that made the entire room glow a light shade of wintry blue, and Jack felt his heart jump for joy as the soft blue lights danced on his body.

This was all so magical!

This castle was undoubtedly the most wonderful thing he had ever created with his ice and snow powers!

For the first time since he had accidentally hurt Elsa and Anna and scared Emma all those years ago, Jack was able to stop thinking of his powers as a curse and could consider them to be the special gift that he had long ago initially thought of them as.

He smiled happily and was about to spin around to see his grand ballroom from every angle, but as he tilted his head a bit, he felt the fabric of his white neckerchief slide a bit around his throat. He absentmindedly raised his hand to try and loosen the tightly tied off piece of ruffled fabric, but then his hand brushed up against something small and metallic, and all the joyful and happy feelings he had been experiencing up to now flew right out of his head.

With a small gulp, Jack pried his neckerchief off his neck and glanced down at it. The golden crocus pin of high servitude that Elsa had bestowed upon him for his promotion as the Arendelle castle's head butler glittered in the blue lights from the chandelier overhead and the lampposts on the walls. It was a gift from Elsa and it was a beautiful pin, but just looking at it right now gave Jack an uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

He didn't want to look at this pin right now.

He didn't want to look at this stupid pin ever again.

He didn't want to look at it and be constantly reminded of Elsa and Emma and everyone else down in Arendelle that he had left behind when he ran away from the kingdom.

And one thought crystallized in his mind like an abrupt, icy blast, and his smile returned to his face again as he turned to glance back outside through the balcony doors.

"Wind? I'm _never_ going back to Arendelle! The past is in the past!" he proudly declared.

The wind roared with approval as it blew in through the open ice doors, whipping around him in a gleeful manner. Jack laughed as he spun around in the windstorm, making flurries of snowflakes shoot out from one hand and dance in the swirling tornado while the other one released the neckerchief with the golden crocus pin attached. As one section of the icy twister broke away from continuously circling Jack to carry the neckerchief and pin someplace far away outside where Jack wouldn't have to see them again, the rest of the snowy cyclone kept whirling around him as fast as it could go. Jack laughed as the strong gusts of wind ruffled and messed up his hair from the rigid and reserved slicked back hairstyle he had carefully combed it into for the past few years, making it fall back into its natural and untidy state that he had always kept it in before training as a castle butler. Oh, did it feel good to let his hair be loose from that proper appearance! His dark brown hair was wild and free! Just like him! Let there be no restrictions on him at all!

In fact, if he was going to be a servant from now on in a castle made entirely out of ice, he needed proper attire for serving in such a castle.

Screw these old clothes!

He had already built a staircase bridge and an entire castle with his powers without even breaking a sweat!

Who's to say that he couldn't fashion himself a new wardrobe with his ice and snow, too?

The sky was the limit with his powers.

All he had to do to make them work was to just let it go.

He grinned as the perfect idea for new icy clothes came to mind, and his arms swept through the air to make the ice appear.

While Jack had no desire to create new icy boots for himself right now as he liked being barefoot, his long, itchy black pants dissolved away to make room for pants made completely out of surprisingly comfortable ice that contained a blue hue to it. And unlike his traditional Arendelle servant trousers that stretched all the way to his ankles and were cut off in a neat line at the ends of the legs, these new ice pants ended a few inches above the ankle and were cut off with slightly jagged bits of ice at the ends of them, making them look a tad bit frayed. But that didn't matter to Jack. It made him look free and easy, and that suited him just fine.

In place of the white button-down silk shirt he had on, he constructed his snow to morph around his upper body until it formed that of a loose and airy white shirt with blue ice buttons, the top three he left unbuttoned so that it wouldn't be so tight around his neck. And instead of a formal servant jacket like the green one he had discarded earlier, Jack instead made a light blue ice vest over the snow shirt, with two big buttons made out of a darker shade of blue ice to keep it secure around his middle.

He didn't dare add a snowy neckerchief or a set of gloves to the ensemble. That neckerchief he had been forced to wear for years with the rest of the Arendelle servant uniform was highly uncomfortable, and he wanted his neck to be able to breathe from now on without it. And what was the point of running all the way out here in the first place if he was only going to keep hiding his powers away behind a set of gloves again? Gloves and boots only served to make him miserable, and he wasn't going to the spend the rest of his lonely life hiding his true self away behind them again as he had for the past decade

No, no gloves or boots for him.

He was to be barefoot and glove-free from this day forward.

And nothing would ever possess him to make him consider hiding himself behind such articles of clothing on his hands and feet again.

He contemplated for a moment having a bit more fun with his powers and adding a snowy cape and icy crown to his new outfit and fashioning himself as a type of ice king, but he soon decided against it. He was born a servant back in the capitol city, and a servant's life he would lead even out here in this snowy kingdom of isolation.

That perfect boy known as Jackson Overland who had lived and worked back in the Arendelle royal castle and had unexplainable powers that he absolutely detested and did everything he could to hide them from the world was gone.

In his place was simply Jack, the Winter Servant of the ice castle on the North Mountain, and he was someone who loved his magic and intended to have lots and lots of fun with them from now until the end of his days.

No more, no less.

With his ice castle finally built and his new icy servant uniform on, Jack grinned to himself as he marched toward the balcony doors with the snowflake emblems imprinted on them and stepped outside to look out at the wintry kingdom he would now serve until the day he died. He hadn't noticed it before, as he had been so busy building his palace and dressing himself up in his new ice and snow clothes, but during the few short minutes he had been working, the sun had slowly started rising in the east over the peaks of some mountains directly ahead of him.

Jack walked up to the edge of the protective icy railing he had constructed earlier and leaned his forearms up against it as he breathed in the morning air. As he stood there in the light of day, he knew he had ultimately made the right choice in running away from Arendelle.

Sure, he would never see Emma, Elsa, Anna, or anyone else that he cared about back in the castle again, but at least they would be safe from him as long as he stayed up here in his new castle. And if he was away from them, he could let his powers go wild around him without worrying about the danger his ice and snow magic presented to other people.

Yes, he was alone, but he was alone and free.

He would serve his new ice castle with—

Wait, hold on a minute… How could he be a Winter Servant in an ice castle without any ice furniture to clean and no type of ice or snow monarch and other royals and nobles to serve?

For a few minutes, Jack was stumped on what he could do to correct this, but then a wicked idea popped into his head, and a look of wonder spread across his face.

He wasn't done yet with building things with his magic.

He had some more stuff to make.

A _lot_ more stuff to make.

He snickered at the whacky thought of what he would do next with his powers, and then glanced upward at the pink and purple clouds of morning dawn floating lazily across the sky.

"Guess I've still got some work to do, Wind. The duties of a servant never seem to end…" he murmured in amusement.

The wind soothingly ran its invisible fingers through his dark hair, making it look even messier than ever, but Jack didn't care a bit. The messier his hair was, the better.

 _Have fun, Jack… Have fun with your magic…_

A happy smile appeared on Jack's lips when he heard that. "I will. I promise," he vowed.

And with that, he spun around sharply on his heel, marched his way across the balcony and back into his ice castle, and let the balcony doors slam shut behind him.

It was beyond freezing cold temperatures inside the ice palace, but that didn't matter in the slightest to the new Winter Servant of the castle.

Let the storm rage on outside his castle walls.

The cold never bothered Jack anyway.


	6. The Search for Jack

**I know, I know... I'm awful! It's been almost a year since I last updated this story, and I'm sure all you readers must be mad. I assure you that it was never my intention to take so long to update. It's just that when I posted the last chapter back last March, it was close to finals, so I initially put the story on hold as I had to make college my first priority. Right after finals ended, I went straight back to writing and managed to complete half of the chapter within a couple weeks, but then it was time for summer classes to start, and I had to set aside time for writing to do homework for that. Plus, it was sometime last summer that my good friend SharKohen and I started messaging back and forth to outline the plot line for Magic Intertwined. Obviously, I had to use my writing time for The Winter Servant to instead help draft out Magic Intertwined. Right after summer classes ended, the new fall semester began, and I was immediately swamped with twice as much homework as ever. In other words... life got in the way. I'm so sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter out!**

 **Flame me as much as you want for taking nine months to finish this chapter. I won't get mad. I deserve it.**

 **Also, I should note that Silken Danser betaed this chapter already, so it's typo-free. I hope that at least earns me some brownie points from all of you fans, lol.**

 **And now, it's shout out time for everyone out there who betaed during the long nine month hiatus between chapter five and chapter six:**

 **\- zoepeanut**

 **\- Cloud4012**

 **\- NotCanadian**

 **\- Neo**

 **\- AnthroDragon**

 **\- SMr. Freeze**

 **\- Fireflames2018**

 **\- jordster**

 **\- INKside Out**

 **\- Sammael29**

 **\- Guest (x2) (In the future, please leave a name so I can properly acknowledge you in any future AU notes)**

 **\- Imagelight**

 **\- I'm the lonely life**

 **Thanks again for reviewing during my long absence! I apologize again all of you since you liked this story enough to spend an additional few minutes reviewing it.**

 **Please note: I do not own the movies _Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled,_ or _How to Train Your Dragon. Frozen, Brave,_ and _Tangled_ belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and _Rise of the Guardians_ and _How to Train Your Dragon_ both belong to Dreamworks Animation. This is a fanfic made for fun, not profit!**

 **Please remember to review when you're done reading this chapter! Reviews help keep me motivated, so hopefully I won't disappear for so long when it comes to this story again, lol!**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: The Search for Jack**

Far away from Arendelle, in another wintry wonderland located at the very tip of the earth, the North Pole, there was a beautiful castle hidden away from the rest of the world at the edge of a massive ice canyon. It was an impressive building in both stature and the beauty of its Russian architecture, but perhaps even more striking was the way it had been built directly into the side of the canyon. While the castle itself was grand, it also doubled as a massive workshop for the castle's owner and his hundreds of elves and yeti employees that constructed toys for all the good little children of the world. Near the base of this magical workshop was a large stable for the owner's reindeer to stay and rest during the three hundred and sixty-four days that they were not flying the castle master's magic sleigh. It was only on Christmas Eve that they would take to the skies and deliver toys to all the little boys and girls around the world.

However, at this particular moment, the castle's owner was not worrying about Christmas. As it was currently the middle of summer, he had his loyal yetis working hard at building toys while the elves 'tested' them afterward, but so long as they all met their daily quota, there was no rush nor any reason to be worried. Christmas was still a long way off, so he had plenty of time to relax and work on his personal hobby of ice carving interesting little creations. He was currently doing so in his private study while munching on his all-time favorite snack and drink: Christmas cookies coupled with an ice-cold glass of milk.

Fiery loud gypsy violin music echoed loudly throughout the office as the master of the North Pole worked. A large block of solid ice was on top of his desk, ready to be carved out into an intricate little ice sculpture. As the rather large man pushed back the sleeves of his red plaid shirt before turning on a nearby chainsaw to shape the ice, it exposed the black worded tattoos that were imprinted on each of his arms:

Naughty on the right arm.

Nice on the left.

His mouth was nearly hidden behind the thick tufts of hair that made up his long, shining silvery beard, but it was lightly humming along to the jaunty melody. After a time, the chainsaw shut off and he pushed himself in his wheelie chair away from the desk to get to a small table off to the side. His twinkling baby blue eyes searched across its surface of scattered ice sculpting tools until he finally located a miniature hammer no longer than three inches.

As he pushed himself back to the large block of ice with the tiny hammer in hand, he glanced over his shoulder at three tiny beings that were huddled in the corner of the large office space.

"Still waiting for cookies!" he called out, his voice containing a heavy Russian accent.

The three little beings were three of his many elves. Dressed all in red suits with black belts around their waists and pointy hats with small jingle bells at the very tips, they each had funny shaped ears that stuck straight out and smiley faces with rosy red cheeks, and on each of their feet was a set of striped stockings. They were silly creatures, tending to cause more mischief around the toy factory rather than help out in it. That was especially true right now. The three little elves had been given the very simple task of bringing their boss a plate of his favorite Christmas cookies from the castle kitchen, but instead of bringing the snack directly to him, they had decided on a whim to munch on a few of the cookies first. Upon hearing their superior call out for his requested treat, they froze in the middle of chewing the their stolen sweets. They hurriedly swallowed what was in their mouths before scurrying as fast as they could to the desk with what remained of the cookies.

As their boss waited for them to deliver him his snack, he gently tapped the hammer rhythmically against certain areas in the huge block of ice, gradually chiseling away bit by bit. He let the cut off, discarded shards of ice fall away onto the red carpeted flooring as the ice on the table began to form into the shape of a beautifully crafted, tiny choo choo train. It was currently the year eighteen thirty-nine and trains had only been around for the past thirty or so years, but already the immortal spirit had a lot of fun thinking up new toys to make that were inspired by them. He let out a great guffaw of triumph when it was finally completed. This had to be one of his finest, most wondrous creations up to date! But that wasn't at all surprising. He was the Guardian of Wonder in children, after all.

And just who was this mysterious owner of a Russian castle and toy workshop?

What a silly question!

Santa Claus, of course!

Or as he was known to his most trusted friends, Nicholas St. North.

Or just North, for short.

With a grin, North collected the ice model train off his desk, blew away some of the excess snow and frost still clinging to its sides, and then carefully placed it at the top of another ice sculpture currently on his desk… an ice rollercoaster track, to be exact. The ice locomotive let out a tiny toot of approval as it merrily began to roll down the track on its tiny iced wheels, showing no signs whatsoever of slowing down at all.

North chuckled. "Yes!" he cried out gleefully.

As the train continued to roll down the ice track, the elves finally managed to climb up on top of the desk with what remained of the cookies. Their cheeks were all puffed out and round, as they had managed to shove a few more inside their tiny mouths while they brought North the plate, and they were now struggling to swallow the sweets down their throats.

One of them was unable to get the cookie to go down, and instead elected to unfurl its tongue and let the half-eaten morsel spill out back onto the plate.

North didn't seem to care however, and merely smiled when he saw them with his snacks. "Ah, finally!" he said, grabbing one cookie at random and taking a large bite. His smile was practically infectious as he enjoyed the treat, but then he focused back in on the ice train he had made when it rolled down the track in front of him.

His smile returned as he saw the ice toy reach the end of the track. Instead of falling off the desk and smashing into hundreds of tiny ice shards on the floor, the train shot up into the air and seemed to sprout forth a set of wings on either side, transforming itself into a lovely ice airplane. While planes technically hadn't been invented yet in the mortal realm and wouldn't be for about another sixty years, the creator of this beautiful transforming ice sculpture was a spirit, and he was already well aware that one day humans would invent this wonderful form of transportation. When they did, he wanted to be ready with all sorts of toys based on flight. Sure, this train that turned into a plane wouldn't be allowed to be seen by humans for another few decades, but it didn't hurt to be prepared. Besides, Christmas was still months away; he could afford to spare some time thinking up toys to make far into the future.

North's smile grew even larger as he saw the little plane fly towards his office door. What a wonderful prototype toy he had invented! With a little refining, by Christmastime he could create a similar toy that would turn into things that the humans had already invented. It would mean a lot of hard work on his end, as well as for his yetis and elves, but so long as every child had a smile on his or her face on Christmas Day, it would be worth it in the end.

Christmas was a time for wonder and magic and, as the immortal being called Santa Claus by the rest of the world, it was his job to protect those qualities in children. He was the Guardian of Wonder after all.

But his musings were interrupted when the door to his study was slammed open by his head yeti Phil, and his ice plane was shattered completely on impact. Both North and Phil gaped at the sight of the destroyed prototype toy. It had been such a wonderful little toy, but now it was gone. Ruined. And all because Phil had forgotten to knock like North had always instructed him to do.

The yeti nervously gulped, and tried to voice an apology for the accident in a frenzy of gibberish that made no sense to normal human ears, but to North, Phil's words actually sounded like the words they were meant to be. Under normal circumstances, the jolly old immortal spirit would have listened attentively to what his head yeti had to say, but upon seeing Phil's rude entrance into his office, Kris Kringle's smiling face instead transformed into an ugly, annoyed scowl.

"How many times have I told you to knock?!" snapped North in obvious exasperation.

Phil jumped, but then he remembered why he had been so frantic to speak to his boss in the first place, and shook aside North's words in order to explain in yeti mumbles and grumbles about what had just happened out in the main room of the workshop.

The instant North heard what his head yeti said, his annoyance vanished. "What? The globe?"

Phil quickly nodded. North had to know that this wasn't just a simple matter of absentminded elves accidentally ruining a stack of toys during a testing phase. In fact, it didn't have anything to do with his duties as Santa Claus. No this was a situation of utmost importance that involved his responsibilities as a Guardian.

When something went wrong with the globe, it meant that something was wrong with the belief of the children around the world.

North was also aware of this and, with one quick motion, he leaned over and grabbed the golden hilt of one of his dual bladed scimitar swords before hurrying out of his office. He had to get to the main room of his workshop immediately and find out what the trouble was.

After striding across the workshop floor and taking a ride upwards in one of the many elevators throughout the castle, North hurried to make his way past the rest of his elf and yeti employees on the main floor of the building, as that was where the Globe of Belief was located.

The Globe of Belief was a gigantic globe of the entire Earth, and twinkling merrily on all the continents was an array of beautiful golden lights. Each one of those lights represented a child. A child who believed in either himself, Santa Claus, or another one of his fellow Guardians of Memories, Hope, and Dreams. And good or bad, naughty or nice, North and the other Guardians protected them. It was their vow to the Man in the Moon that they would watch over and guard the children of the world from any prominent dangers throughout the rest of their immortal lives. If something should happen that would put the children in jeopardy, North and the others would do everything in their power to squash that threat immediately so the children would be safe.

They had never failed in the past to protect the children. If Phil was right and something was currently happening to the lights right now, North would have to summon forth his fellow Guardians to discuss what might be happening and how they could fix whatever danger could be threatening the children.

Granted, while they would do everything they could to uphold their promise to the Man in the Moon and save the children, it still wouldn't be the same as it used to be back in the Dark Ages – when they last had to interfere in the mortal realm.

Because they were missing one Guardian.

…The former Guardian of Courage.

It was sad to North, but he knew he couldn't think about _him_ right now. No, he had to check out the Globe.

"Shoo with your pointy heads," he said rather nonchalantly as the sea of elves and their tiny bell-tipped caps scrambled to move aside for their boss as North's huge black boots marched purposefully past them. "Why are you all always under boot?"

Standing near the Globe's control panel were two curious yetis, and North squeezed his way past them so he could see the Globe up close with his own eyes. At first, he wasn't quite sure what the problem was. As far as he could see, the Globe appeared to be fine. The lights were still bright in every continent as far as he could tell. Once in a while, one or two lights might go out in one of the many countries around the world, but that wasn't a cause for concern. It was only natural that when a child grew up, they forgot about the wonder, hopes, dreams, and memories of childhood and stopped believing in the Guardians. One or two lights going out simply meant that a child had grown out of believing in the Guardians, but unless mass quantities of lights were snuffed all at once, there wasn't any reason to be worried.

In all honesty, North had no idea what was so important that Phil had to come and get him, and he quickly spun around to look at the head yeti in confusion.

"Everything appears to be well. What is the problem?" he asked.

The yetis pointed to a northern region of the Globe in response. Or rather, they pointed at the area of Northern Europe in particular.

Again, at first, North had no idea what he was supposed to be looking at, as all the countries in the northern regions of Europe appeared okay and all the lights were still twinkling about happily. But when his blue eyes initially skimmed over Norway, they immediately halted and instead zoomed back towards the small country to take a second look.

Even though it was summer and Norway was supposed to be covered in luscious greenery to represent the warm season, the whiteness of snow was gradually spreading across the land, originating from the small kingdom of Arendelle. As this happened, nearly all the lights that were in Arendelle and the surrounding forests and mountain ranges were flickering repeatedly, symbolizing that all the children in the area were losing belief and fast.

North's eyes went wide as he watched this happen. "What is this?" he questioned rhetorically, not understanding what could be going on.

What could cause this unnatural snowy phenomenon? Winter was many months away. And was this unnatural winter somehow connected to why all the lights in the country were struggling to stay lit up? As a Guardian, a mass breakout of wavering lights was cause for alarm, but as an immortal who had spent hundreds of years watching over the Globe, it was also cause for confusion. He had never seen anything like this before – an utterly unseasonal snow blanketing such a large space – and he was thoroughly baffled by it.

"Have you checked the axis? Is the rotation balanced?" he questioned one of the yetis over his shoulder. The lights and snow could somehow be attributed to an error with how the Globe was situated on its stand right now. If one of the elves had bumped into it… it was possible. Unlikely, but possible. For their many faults of being scatterbrained, the one thing that all the little elves did understand was to never mess around with the Globe. They knew how vital it was to the safety of children worldwide, and even though they were all reckless, they would never do anything to jeopardize something so important.

The yeti he addressed quickly began to say in his mumble and grumble language that, yes, he and the other yetis had checked the axis and rotation. Everything was in perfect order with the Globe. Whatever was happening right now, it wasn't because of a technical error that had occurred here at the North Pole.

North's uneasiness rose exponentially at that, but before he could say anything, something else happened to the Globe of Belief.

…Something that made the hairs raise on the back of his neck.

A wind whipped up in the room from seemingly out of nowhere, and as it began repeatedly circling the enormous ceramic replica of the Earth, a blanket of inky black sand began swirling around the country of Norway until eventually the entire northern realm was swallowed up in darkness. One by one, a multitude of lights went out all over the nation, but primarily in the kingdom of Arendelle. There, the lights seemed to go all out at once, leaving just a handful of lights left in the entire kingdom. Only a select number of children in Arendelle still believed in the Guardians now. But why? What had happened to make the children there lose belief all at once?

As the elves began scurrying to duck behind pillars or other pieces of heavy furniture to avoid being carried away by the strong gusts of wind, North watched in astonishment as the Globe began to spin on its axis, slowly at first, but then faster and faster. As it did so, more of the black sand began to spread from Norway to other regions of the Globe. No more lights went out anywhere else, thank heavens, but the evil, mysterious black sand continued to spread rapidly across the enormous ball of the Earth, eventually swallowing it up until there was no trace of the blue and green regions of the planet.

But then, as quickly as the Globe was covered up, all the black sand seemed to rush up to the ceiling all at once and burst into a puff of black smoke, gradually dissipating into the air until no trace of the smoke or sand remained. The wind died away as well, as though no mysterious event had occurred at all.

The elves still remained hidden in their hiding spots though, and North kept his guard up. Something sinister was happening here in his beloved North Pole. Of that, he was sure. The question was, what was going on and why?

He barely had time to think this before a huge shadow suddenly darted across the floor just behind him, greatly startling his yetis. North whipped around to try and see it, but the shadow zoomed away from him just before he could, whooshing upwards into the air until it was right beside the Globe. There it took the shape of a body.

…The body of an evil creature that North had not seen since the end of the Dark Ages.

The dark shadow laughed wickedly as it circled the Globe, eventually coming to a stop in front of the country of Norway. With a maniacal grin, it poked one of its bony black fingers precisely on the spot where the kingdom of Arendelle was located, and then it disappeared with a quick swirl of black sand.

The shadow was gone, but the memory of it lingered in the air for all those in the toy workshop that had just witnessed what had happened.

And in North's case, he was dumbstruck as realization of what this meant began to sink in.

"Can it be…?" he whispered.

There was a long pause as he absorbed everything that had happened, but then he quickly looked over his shoulder at the elves that were slowly emerging from their hiding spots.

"Dingle!"

He had only meant to call out for just one of them, but at least four of the tiny elves stepped forward while gesturing to themselves, as though they were all named 'Dingle.' The moment that they saw each other, their eager expressions quickly turned to puzzlement as they struggled to figure out which one of them it was that North wanted.

However, North ignored their usual confused antics and continued to speak.

"Make preparations!" he ordered. "We are going to have company!"

As the elves all nodded and ran off to fetch an assortment of snacks and drinks to offer the soon-to-be-arriving guests, North reached toward a large emergency lever on the control panel in front of the Globe. He twisted the handle a bit to get it into its proper position, and then pressed down into the panel as though it were no different than a button.

Instantly, a pulse of rainbow energy originated from the Globe itself, and then traveled upwards until it exited the building through the overhead skylight. It hovered there above the toy factory for a few seconds, and then began to travel rapidly in all directions at once across the sky.

To the rest of the world, the lights of the aurora borealis were beautiful natural creations that originated from the northern regions of the earth and made the night sky look like an array of rainbow lights sailing amongst the stars.

But for immortal spirits, the Northern Lights symbolized a distress call.

A distress call for all the Guardians to gather immediately.

It would undoubtedly take his fellow Guardians some time to notice his emergency signal and hurry to meet him here at the Pole for this unplanned meeting, but for North, every second that passed by without any of them arriving was precious time wasted, in his opinion.

The enemy that they had kept at bay for centuries had finally decided to strike back against them and humanity, and only the Guardians had the power to stop him.

Time passed by far too slowly for Nicholas St. North, but finally – about fifteen minutes after he had lit up the Northern Lights and sent out the distress signal – his three fellow Guardians finally arrived.

The first one to catch his attention was the only female immortal amongst the group. Her name was Toothiana, or simply Tooth for short, and she was commonly known by humans to be the Tooth Fairy, the Guardian of Memories. As a hybrid between looking like a normal human being and some type of colorful hummingbird, Tooth was a slender young woman with her entire body seemingly covered in feathers of blue, green, and bright gold. The only visible areas on her that showed that she had tan skin was her face and hands. Around her ankles and wrists were golden lines that looked like golden bracelets and anklets, and gold feather dangled from either of her ears reminiscent of that of earrings. The only parts of her that resembled a fairy in the slightest were her wings. They were both iridescent and see-through, just like any set of fairy wings, and they were fluttering about rapidly in the air so she could stay airborne. Her pink eyes were shining with happiness as she nodded politely to North in greeting, but even though she was curious as to what may have possessed her friend to summon herself and their two fellow teammates to this meeting, she was slightly preoccupied by her mini Baby Teeth fluttering about around her head. She was directing them to where they had to go to collect teeth from under the pillows of the children around the world who were fast asleep in their beds, dreaming about the following morning where they would discover that the Tooth Fairy had come during the night to exchange their teeth for a precious gold coin. Like Tooth, the Baby Teeth looked very much like her, as a crossover between a fairy and a small hummingbird, and all of them made tiny tweets of greeting when they finally saw North.

North smiled kindly at Tooth, but then he turned his attention toward Sandy, the Sandman and the Guardian of Dreams. His full name was Sanderson Mansnoozie, but they all simply called him Sandy since 'Sanderson' was such a mouthful. A short and squat little person, Sandy wore a yellow robe made up of the golden particles of his Dreamsand and matching golden slippers. His hair was also a matching yellow that glittered like his sand, and it was styled into five points that shot out in all directions on his round head. His honey brown eyes were warm and happy as he flew in from the overhead skylight in his golden Dreamsand plane – his elected mode of quick transportation – and waved happily at North when he saw him. He would have simply said a kind hello, but Sandy never spoke a word to anyone. Instead, he communicated through his facial expressions and by forming images over his head with Dreamsand. He was a peaceful and calm immortal, and in all the years that North had known him, he had only seen Sandy get angry during instances when the children of the world were in danger.

And finally, there was the last member of the squad, who was currently hopping his way out of a hole he had made in the ground that was connected to a tunnel that. The tunnel which this hole was attached to led all the way back to his own private underground oasis in the Australian Outback that he called the Warren. He was E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny, and the Guardian of Hope. He was a Pooka, a long believed to be fantasy rabbit species with grayish-blue fur and bright green eyes, and he stood up to being nearly six feet tall. On each of his front paws was a set of leather bracers with orange stones embedded in them, and around his back paws were brown leather wrappings. He also had a single strap holster around his furry waist that carried his boomerangs, his weapons of choice. As he himself was Australian, Bunny had a thick accent and tended to act as rough and tough as the Outback itself when the situation called for it. But he held great pride for his holiday, and it constantly annoyed him whenever North claimed that Christmas was more important than Easter. Granted, it was currently the summer season and Easter was finally over, but there were still so many things that Bunny would rather be doing right now than being called in for a meeting. He had new chocolate recipes he should be testing out, egg colors to be experimenting with, new flowers to be planting back in the Warren… If this meeting was being called for anything other than an absolute emergency, he was going to be furious.

As the three of them all settled in from their long journeys from every corner of the globe, one of the elves that North had sent to go and fetch refreshments returned carrying a tray in hand, which thankfully had all the cookies still on its plate and all the liquid still poured to the brim in the goblets.

"Cookies? Eggnog? Anyone?" North offered to his friends, gesturing to the tray the elf was still carrying.

The others all shook their heads as the elf passed the tray over to Phil to hold.

"This better be good, North," Bunny said rather irritably, a miniscule paintbrush in one of his paws and a half-finished prototype egg in the other. It didn't matter that Easter was over. Like North, Bunny's job required him to be preparing for his holiday all the time. While eggs and chocolates were perishables that expired after a certain date, he still needed to come up with new ideas that would outshine the previous Easter every year. So it didn't matter that this was technically an emergency Guardian meeting. He still had to be on top of preparations for next Easter.

Just as soon as he warmed up his oversized feet by that roaring fireplace in the corner, that is. Bunny knew that the Globe was situated at the North Pole, so all meetings had to take place here, but the one thing that he hated about their designated meeting spot was how cold he easily got whenever he was forced to visit the Pole. One day he would find the courage to give Manny a piece of his mind and demand that they move the meetings to his home in the Warren, or even to Tooth's Palace out in Southeast Asia. At least then he wouldn't be freezing his white fluffy cottontail off whenever there was Guardian business to attend to.

But North ignored him as he approached Sandy, who was busily hopping down from the seat of his Dreamsand plane and making it disappear behind him with a simple wave of his hand. "Ah, Sandy! Thank you for coming!" he greeted.

Meanwhile, Tooth was oblivious to what they were all doing, as she was still busy giving her fairies directions.

"Montreal, sector six: ten premolars, eight incisors, and twelve canines! Steer clear of wild geese in the area! They can get pretty nasty in Canada!"

But the others were quite used to their female comrade's chatter about teeth to her mini-Tooth Fairies whenever they were all together, and elected to ignore her instructions to her little cohorts as they spoke. And so far, the conversation seemed to be aimed at how this meeting was cutting into their work.

Even Sandy made a series of sand glyphs appear over his head to demonstrate to North just how busy he was right now trying to guarantee the pleasant dreams of kids everywhere tonight, and that unless this was truly important, he too had better things to do than to be called in to this unplanned Guardian meeting.

North was immediately on the defensive over his reasoning for calling this gathering. "I know, I know. But I obviously wouldn't have called you all here unless it was serious."

His answer caught Tooth's attention, and she quickly tuned in to the matter at hand as she shushed her fairies so that she could give North her full and undivided attention. Even Bunny glanced up at that. Although he kept his oversized rabbit feet hovering over the flames in the fireplace to warm them up, his floppy ears twitched a bit in North's direction to hear whatever it was that he had to say.

Seeing that the others were finally ready to fully listen to what he had to report, North blurted his news right out for them all to hear. "The Boogeyman was here! At the Pole!"

Tooth immediately gasped. "Pitch? Pitch Black? _Here?!"_

North nodded. "Yes! First, Norway was inexplicably covered by snow. And then, there was black sand covering the globe!"

"Wait, what… What do you mean by black sand covering the Globe and snow in Norway?" Bunny interrupted, hopping away from the fireplace to get in on this conversation. "It's summer. Norway should be covered in greenery. And even if it was Pitch, he doesn't deal with snow. So what are you talking about?"

North merely shrugged. "I don't know any more than any of you do on that, Bunny. All I know is that Norway was engulfed in snow, originating from the kingdom of Arendelle, and after that, a shadow swallowed the world."

Bunny was still unimpressed and collected the egg and paintbrush he had momentarily discarded. The Easter egg resumed getting a paintjob, as he doubtfully looked at North. "Hold on, hold on. I thought you said you saw Pitch."

North's expression turned sheepish. "Well, uh… not exactly," he admitted.

The gigantic rabbit's expression turned even more skeptical. "'Not exactly?'" he repeated with a slight eye roll as he turned to Sandy. "Can you believe this guy?"

Sandy's response was to simply shrug his shoulders and make a question mark appear over his head with his shimmering Dreamsand.

Bunny smirked, and completely immersed himself back into painting more colorful designs on his egg. "Yeah, you said it, Sandy," he chuckled.

"Look, he's up to something very bad," North claimed. "I feel it – in my belly!"

He clutched his oversized round belly to emphasize, but Bunny was still not convinced.

"Hang on, hang on," the Pooka said, his eyes narrowing a bit, "you mean to say you that summoned me here while I was in the middle of baking new Easter candy recipes because of your belly? Mate, if I did this to you while you were in the middle of thinking up new toys for Christmas—"

"Argentina! Priority alert!" Tooth unexpectedly interrupted, drawing all eyes to her. Again, the colorful Tooth Fairy was directing more of her fairies to other continents where teeth needed to be collected. "A batch of bicuspids in Buenos Aires!"

North blinked for a moment, but then shook his head a bit before turning his attention back to the Easter Bunny. "Please, Bunny. Easter candies are not Christmas toys," he insisted. To further express his skepticism over Easter being more important than Christmas, he actually elected to take the egg Bunny was painting and tossed it up and down dismissively in his meaty hand a few times.

Bunny deadpanned for about half a second over North's treatment of his precious egg, but then he started scornfully laughing. "Here we go…" he muttered.

Sandy simply chose to tune everyone out as he floated over to where one of the yetis was holding up a tray of eggnog, and accepted a golden goblet of the Christmassy drink for himself. It was pointless for the silent member of the Guardians to come between North and Bunny when they were quarreling about which of their holidays was more important or to distract Tooth when she was giving directions to her little fairies. They all believed that talking was necessary to get their points across, when really, it was those who stayed silent and paid attention to detail that got things done. It had never failed the tiny Sandman in the past, and he didn't see how it would fail him now.

He sighed as he watched them. After a moment though, he abruptly realized that one of North's elves had snuck up onto the table next to him and was trying to sneak a drink from his goblet. With a slight scowl, Sandy hastily jerked his cup away from the tiny creature, and the elf slipped and fell off the table with a resounding jingle of his itty-bitty belled hat. Sandy otherwise ignored it. For now, he would simply float around while sipping his eggnog and wait for everyone to calm down. Once they did, then they could get back to the matter at hand and find out had caused North to summon them.

Or at least, that _was_ his plan, up until he noticed something very important happening as the others spoke.

From high up above, through the overhead skylight, Sandy spied the light of the full moon rising into view, its beautiful silver rays dancing brightly in the night sky before descending to light up the walls of the enormous room. The Moon was a very important figure to the Guardians, because technically, the Moon could almost be considered their boss. The Man-in-the-Moon had handpicked the four of them, out of everyone else in the entire world, to be the Guardians of Childhood. So naturally, they all had great respect for Manny.

If Manny was making an appearance, then North hadn't been completely crazy to summon them all from out of the blue like this. Something big was going on.

"North, I don't have time for this! I've still got ovens full of candies back in the Warren that I left unattended!"

"Bah! It's just candy. You almost always end up using the same old recipes. It's not like you're baking cookies. Now _those_ require full and undivided attention to bake right."

Unable to speak up to get their attention, Sandy immediately dropped his empty golden goblet and started pointing frantically toward the moon. He had to get his three friend's concentration redirected to the Moon somehow. Manny wanted to talk to them and it was imperative that they listen to his counsel.

But the others were still so preoccupied with their own agendas that they all failed to notice both the Sandman's wild gestures and Manny's light.

"Look, Mate, I'm dealing with perishables! Those ovens could set the whole Warren on fire if I don't hurry back!" Bunny snapped, seizing the egg back from North as he spoke. "You've got all year to prepare toys. But I gotta use this time thinking up recipes and new egg designs. I only get so much time every Spring before things have to be ready."

"Pittsburg, boy eight, two molars," Tooth chirped to more of her fairies. "Saltwater taffy!"

Seeing no response from any of them, Sandy brought his fingers to his mouth to try and whistle to get their attention, and even created a yellow musical note above his head.

But it was no use. He was still utterly silent no matter what he tried.

"Why are rabbits always so nervous?"

"And why are you always such a blowhard?"

Sandy desperately tried floating around now while waving a golden sand flag frantically over his head to get either North or Bunny to take notice of him, but the two quarreling spirits were instead distracted by Tooth as she fluttered by, still jabbering about teeth in a rather fast frenzy to her little pixie workers.

"Ontario, sector nine: five canines, two molars, and fourteen incisors… Wait, is that all in one house?"

"Tooth!" said North abruptly, snapping the spritely hummingbird-like woman out of her one-track state of mind. "Can't you see we're trying to argue?"

Tooth had the decency to blush at her own behavior. "Sorry! Not all of us get to work one night a year… Am I right, Sandy?"

Sandy's only response was to shape some more of his Dreamsand into a golden arrow and point it toward the open skylight. There was a brief pause as Tooth gazed curiously at the arrow he made, but then she seemed to gasp in realization. At first, Sandy hoped that Tooth had finally noticed the moonlight shining through the roof, but then she whipped back around to keep prattling on to her fairy workers.

"San Diego, sector two! Five incisors, a bicuspid, and a really loose molar on stand-by!"

As she flew off to continue giving out instructions to her little fairies, Bunny resumed painting his egg as he spoke in a rather mocking tone to North.

"Come on, mate. Pitch went out with the Dark Ages. We made sure of it. And he didn't have any control over snow or the weather."

North was becoming rather exasperated by this point. "I know it was him! We have a serious situation!"

"Well, I've got a serious situation back home with some candies in the ovens!"

Tooth hovered toward them with a curious look on her face. "Hey, I hate to interrupt the, 'We-Work-So-Hard-Once-A-Year-Club,' but could we concentrate on the matter—"

 _Ring-a-ling!_

 _Ring-a-ling!_

 _Ring-a-ling!_

The sound of a tiny bell being frantically jingled in a rather chaotic fashion instantly silenced the three chattering Guardians, and they all spun around.

Sandy had finally had enough with being ignored by the others. When he spied one of North's mischievous elves picking up the goblet he had dropped earlier to try and see if there was any eggnog left inside for him to sip, Sandy had simply floated over and seized him by his red pointy hat before proceeding to shake him vigorously. The small bell on his hat rung out loudly and got everyone to finally pipe down.

Upon seeing that he finally had North, Bunny, and Tooth's full and undivided attention at last, Sandy promptly dropped the elf – ignoring the way that it fell to the floor in a rather dizzy daze – and made a golden sand crescent moon symbol appear above his head before pointing at the moonbeams still shining through the open skylight.

The others all blinked and spun around to see what he was talking about, but upon finally noticing the silver orb hovering in the skye, North's puzzled expression immediately changed to a look of delight.

"Ah! Man in Moon!" he said happily. Then he turned to glance back over his shoulder at the squat little man that was watching all of them. "Sandy, why didn't you say something?"

For a few seconds, Sandy just stared a deadpanned look at the alleged Santa Claus, but then a scowl quickly formed its way on his face as golden Dreamsand shot out from his ears just like steam. Now he was annoyed. He knew he was a mute, but did they all think that he had only just noticed that Manny wanted to talk to them? One of these days, he was going to have to take the time to get a real bell so he could always ensure he could get their attention.

But the others were oblivious to Sandy's irritation, as they were now focusing on the moonlight streaming down from the skylight. The beam concentrated onto the emblem of the Guardians – a stylized 'G' set into a circle that was surrounded by a diamond – which just so happened to be inscribed on the floor between all of them.

"It's been a long time, old friend!" North went on. "What is big news?"

For a long, tense moment the Moon didn't reply to the big, jolly man, forcing the four Guardians to wait anxiously for their supreme leader's response as they gathered at each of the points of the diamond emblem. But then, the moonlight streaming through the window seemed to grow brighter, and a mysterious shadow of an ominous silhouette appeared in the middle of the beam.

A silhouette that the four of them knew all too well, even if they hadn't seen him for years.

"It _is_ Pitch," Bunny gasped, looking just as stunned as Tooth and Sandy did upon seeing their old nemesis' shadowy form on the ground before them.

North looked oh so smug as he patted his belly and gave the Pooka a _look,_ and then he glanced back up at the Moon.

"Manny, what must we do?" he asked.

Within seconds, the shadowy outline of the Boogeyman disappeared and the moonlight intensified upon the circle on the floor, illuminating the decorative symbol in the middle. Then the section of the floor with the ornate letter 'G' on it slid away to make room for a large pillar that rose up from inside the floor. It had a large, glowing blue gem resting on top of it, and as soon as the gem was up high enough in the room, the moonbeams still streaming through the room began to refract off it, casting rays of blue light all over the space.

The fact that this gem-laden pillar was rising out of the ground stunned all four of them for a moment. The few times that this had happened before was for one reason only.

"Uh, guys, you know what this means?" Tooth whispered.

North nodded, an awestruck look now on his face. "He's choosing a new Guardian!"

"What?! Why?!" Bunny gasped.

"Must be big deal. Manny thinks we need help."

Bunny eyes narrowed. "So he wants to choose a replacement for our old friend then, is that it?!" he snapped.

His words brought a pause over the rest of the group. Technically, Bunny was correct in this instance. Whoever Manny was choosing right now _would_ end up being a replacement. The fifth member of their squad had died a long, long time ago, and there wasn't a day that went by where they didn't think about him.

Finally, Tooth cleared her throat and forced a happy, enthusiastic smile on her face. There was no use dwelling in the past right now. No, Manny wanted them all to move on and think about the future. If he didn't, he obviously wouldn't be choosing this new Guardian at all. That's how she felt, anyway.

"I wonder who it's gonna be!" she said excitedly, trying to make this moment lively and happy once again.

Sandy picked up on her cheer, and quickly made a small, gold four-leaf clover appear above his head with his sand.

"Maybe the Leprechaun?" she voiced for him.

Bunny meanwhile was simply praying that the new Guardian wasn't one immortal in particular.

"Please not the Groundhog… Please not the Groundhog…" he whispered pleadingly over and over.

North said nothing whatsoever, and just chose to watch the gem with eagerness shining in his bright blue eyes. It had been so long since they lost their old comrade in their previous encounter with Pitch. He was dearly missed, but it was time to move on. Whoever it was that Manny had chosen to be the new fifth Guardian amongst them, North hoped that it was a spirit who had something very special inside that he or she would always vow to protect in children. There were so many things that made the world wonderful when humans were young but that faded away from their minds as they grew up. Whatever amazing trait this new spirit had for their center, North trusted Manny to choose someone who had the power to always bring a smile to every child's face.

That was what being a Guardian was all about, after all.

It wasn't just about protecting children from evil beings such as Pitch. It was also about bringing them joy.

Let this new immortal bring something new to the table that would inspire wonder and happiness in the young, innocent boys and girls of the world.

Finally, a bright flash of light emanated from the great blue crystal, followed by a strong gust of wind throughout the chamber, and then at last, the see-through figure manifesting in the blue lights above the gem was fully formed.

A teenage boy with a rather sad expression on his face stood in the lights, his bare hands creating great wisps of snow and ice. As he stared at his hands, he seemed to just grow sadder, as though the very sight of the magical power was enough to make him downright miserable. And strangely enough, he was wearing the most peculiar set of clothing imaginable. He had no form of shoes on, and all his clothes seemed to be made directly out of either snow or ice. His hair was wild and messy, and even though it was currently blue thanks to the lights from the gem, all four Guardians could tell that it was really some sort of dark color. Even more odd, his skin didn't seem to be pale enough to prove that he was a spirit, proving that – although he was apparently quite depressed – he was still a strong, healthy teenager.

All four Guardians were confused to see this unknown boy appear before them in the light of the pedestal, but a few things were immediately clear:

One, this kid was not a spirit. He was still a living, breathing human being.

Two, he apparently had some type of wintery powers inside him, and for some reason, he didn't like them.

And three, whoever this boy was, he bore a very strong resemblance to an old friend of theirs.

A friend who had died a very, very long time ago.

All four of them stood there in silence for some time, not quite sure what to make of what they were looking at in the light of the blue Guardian Stone. However, before any of them could try to recover from their confusion, the image of the sad ice boy faded away as the light from the gem went out completely, and the pillar began to lower back down into the floor.

"Now what's happening?!" Bunny demanded, quickly turning his attention to North. "Who was that kid?! Do any of you know? He's not an immortal, is he? I've never seen him!"

"Neither have I," Tooth admitted, sounding beyond puzzled as she watched the last of the pillar be swallowed back up by the floor. "I've never met any spirit that can control ice and snow before. Have either of you met him, North, Sandy?"

Sandy quickly shook his head, as did North.

"I use ice a lot when building prototype toys here in the workshop, but that's as far as I know of immortals having anything to do with winter magic. I've never heard of a spirit who can make ice or snow appear out of thin air."

Tooth's bafflement only grew at hearing that. However, before she could say anything further, the slot that covered up the pillar in the floor slid back into place, and the moonlight streaming in through the skylight made a new series of shadows.

The full body shadow of a similar-looking boy to the one that had formed in the light of the Guardian Stone appeared on the floor over the ornate symbol of the letter 'G.' This boy seemed to wear some type of formfitting armor all over his frame, his hair was wild and in complete disarray, and in one of his hands he carried a long staff with a dagger-shaped point at the very end of it. His stance showed that he was carefree and somewhat cocky, but that just made him seem even more likable. Even without being able to see any of his shadowed facial features, it was clear that he was a good soul that enjoyed all things wonderful and good in the world.

The moment the Guardians saw this image, their worried and confused expressions immediately changed to matching looks of pure sadness. Unlike the mysterious boy that Manny had just chosen to be a new Guardian, they knew who this was. He was one of the two Guardians amongst their number who had unfortunately died. While one of them, the Guardian of Storytelling, had never been granted immortality by Manny and had died from natural causes at a ripe old age a long time ago, the other had died during battle.

This was a shadow of the member of their group who had been killed in action during their last encounter with Pitch years and years ago:

The Guardian of Courage.

For a long time, North, Bunny, and Tooth didn't speak, nor did Sandy make any more Dreamsand images appear over his head. None of them had been expecting this, to see their old friend's silhouette appear on the floor right after seeing Pitch's shadow and the puzzling new ice boy that had been selected as the newest Guardian. What exactly was Manny trying to tell them?

Finally, Bunny couldn't take the silence anymore, and his furry head snapped up to glare hatefully at the round silver orb hovering in the sky.

"Is this some kind of a joke?! What are you playing at, Mate?!"

The others were downright horrified at his temper.

"Bunny! Show Manny some respect!" Tooth pleaded.

Bunny only glared at the fairy-hummingbird hybrid in return. "Respect?! What respect?! He's not showing our old friend any respect right now! Oi! Manny! Are you saying that Pitch brought the ankle-biter back from the dead and he's using him against us?! Is that it?! And what about that ice boy?! He's human, right?! Why'd you choose him to be a Guardian?!"

North opened his mouth to start reprimanding the Australian rabbit for speaking so disrespectfully to their leader, but before he could say anything whatsoever, the shadowy image on the ground changed. Or rather, something was added to it, and that got everyone's attention.

Beside the shadow of their former comrade, another shadow took form, this one of the strange boy that Manny had shown them in the lights of the gem. Like their old friend, this boy had wild and messy hair, but that was where the similarities ended. His body language showed that he had his arms folded across his chest and his back was slightly hunched over, making him seem like he was very lonely, sad, and possibly frightened as well. Surrounding him were the shadowy outlines of small snowflakes as they fell along his head and shoulders, and every time he saw one of them appear out of thin air, the boy seemed to become even more terrified. He began to frantically shake his head sorrowfully as the snow formed around him, and it seemed as though his fear of what he was doing caused him to unintentionally make ice appear underneath his bare feet. For some reason, seeing the ice appeared to make him even more frightened, which apparently only succeeded in creating more wintry spectacles.

Strangely, shadowed swirls that seemed to represent the wind occasionally whipped around him, making the snow he created twirl around him in a mini tornado. Unlike the snow, the teen didn't seem to be all that afraid of the wind. If anything, the wind appeared to be capable of calming the boy down from the fear of his ice and snow.

The four immortal spirits that were watching all blinked. What exactly were they looking at here? Judging by the untidy state of this second boy's hair, he looked relatively similar to their old comrade, but he seemed to be the exact opposite of him personality wise. And what about that snow around him? They knew he apparently had magic powers related to ice and snow, but was it somehow connected to the mysterious snowstorm that was occurring around the kingdom of Arendelle in Norway?

However, before any of them could start voicing these questions, the two shadows of the two boys merged to create one whole new shadow of a different boy all together. The same wild hairstyle remained, but there was a new staff in hand… one that was shaped like a shepherd's crook rather than having a sharp point at the end. This new boy stood up straight and tall and seemed to have a relaxed demeanor much like their old friend, but like the other boy, he had tendrils of snow whipping around his body. Only, this new boy wasn't at all afraid of the snow. If anything, he seemed to be playing with the snowflakes, using his staff to conjure more around him as he spun around in place. He clearly loved his magic.

And then, the shadow of the new boy disappeared completely as the moonlight streaming into the room from the skylight dissipated. The Guardians all looked up to see if the Moon had anything else to tell them, but a cloud suddenly streaked across the sky outside, fully blocking their view of their supreme leader and cutting off any further communications.

For a long time after that, no one spoke or did anything in reply. Everyone's heads were still reeling over what they had just seen, even if they didn't fully understand it. Until finally, Sandy stepped forward and created a big sand question mark over his head to express his confusion.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that, Sandy," said Bunny, his voice sounding thoroughly baffled. "What exactly did we just see, North? Because I'm starting to think the Groundhog's fine!"

North merely shrugged as his bushy brows furrowed in contemplation. "I… I honestly have no idea, Bunny. If I were to guess… I'd say that our old friend is linked to this other young boy…"

"But… But how is that possible?!" Tooth exclaimed, her wings flapping frantically as she glided forward a bit to be even closer to the jolly old man. "He… He _died_ so long ago! We all saw it with our own eyes! How is he related to some human boy who has ice and snow powers?!"

"Your guess is as good mine on that, Tooth."

"You said before that Norway is covered in snow right now, North? Do you think that the boy we just saw could be somehow involved? Could he be working with Pitch? Because if he is, then Manny's completely lost his marbles to choose him as the newest Guardian!"

"Anything is possible, I suppose… But as for working with Pitch… if he is working with him, he might not be doing it willingly. Remember how scared he seemed in that shadow? Pitch might be forcing the boy to help him, or something along those lines…"

"Well, that's just great!"

Tooth still looked somewhat conflicted, but she nodded anyway. "Well, as long as he helps to protect the children, right?" she timidly offered.

Her little baby teeth all twittered in confirmation, but Bunny was still skeptical.

"Come on! We know nothing about this guy! For all we know, he might not even care about children! What are the odds he just wants to freeze ponds and mess with my egg hunts?! All right? He could be an irresponsible, selfish—"

"Guardian."

This one simple word from North stopped Bunny right in his tracks, and everyone turned back to the white-bearded lover of milk and cookies.

"Whatever the reason, he has been chosen to be a Guardian. He must have something very special inside him if Manny chose him despite still being human. We must go and find him."

Tooth nodded to that, and Sandy was able to manage a smile, but Bunny huffed with obvious annoyance.

"Whatever. I still think Manny chose wrong. This ice boy is probably many things, but _not_ a Guardian!"

* * *

"Angus, can't you go any faster? Hamish, Hubert, and Harris all vouched that you're the fastest horse ever! So why are you moving so slowly? Ride like the wind! We gotta find Jackie!"

The oversized black Shire horse snorted in reply as he continued trudging along at a rather slow walk through the thick mounds of snow that had to be at least two feet high covering the trail, all the while carrying his young rider safely through the wintry Arendelle forest.

And speaking of his rider, she really didn't appreciate the sass that her borrowed horse gave her, and she made sure to kick her heels somewhat hard into his sides to ensure that the mount was paying attention.

"Don't snort at me! My big brother is out here all alone! Jack might not care about me, but I still love him! He's scared and confused, and he needs me! Every minute we waste is one minute more that the evil Shadow Man can find him and hurt him! We gotta ride like the wind!"

Again, the gigantic Shire horse just snorted at her words, and continued moving at the same slow pace as before.

Emma huffed in obvious annoyance. She was sure Angus was tired. She was tired too, but that was no excuse for the horse to be so rude to her! She wasn't quite sure what the time had been when she took off from Arendelle the night before, but she assumed it had to be around midday now. She was cold, tired, hungry, and cranky from riding without rest all night long on such a stubborn creature, but even so, the little girl refused to direct the Scottish Shire horse to turn around and start walking back down the snowy path to Arendelle.

She was going to find her big brother, and nothing on earth was going to stop her from doing so.

With that thought in mind, Emma nodded firmly to herself, glanced around at the frozen wilderness surrounding her in every direction as she continued riding Angus, and called out as loudly as she could.

"Jack?! Jackie?! Are you out here?!" she shouted out desperately. "Jackie, it's me, Emma! Your little sister who didn't mean to make you turn summer into winter!"

There was no answer to be heard at all out in the frozen woods. All was silent except for a faint whisper of the wind in the trees.

Emma frowned, but still kept trying.

"I'm really sorry about what I said at the party, Big Brother! I didn't mean it! I… I know you don't love me even though we're family, Jack, but please come out! I'm sorry, okay?! It's all my fault what happened! Don't blame yourself!"

A sudden chittering sound from the pocket of her stolen winter cloak caught her attention. Emma blinked a bit with surprise before reaching down into the pocket to pull out her second animal companion.

"What is it, Piku? Are you lonely? Do you want to help me call out for Big Brother, too?"

Piku, or rather, Pascal the Chameleon wearily shook his small head as he scampered his way out of Emma's hand to instead rest on her left shoulder under the collar of her oversized cloak. The little reptile was usually a pretty shade of green, but right now the small creature was so cold that its skin color had instead morphed to icy blue. Pascal shivered as he snuggled himself deeper into the folds of the cloak and tried to move as close to Emma's neck as he possibly could. He desperately needed to stay warm! Reptiles weren't meant to be in such cold climates, and if he didn't manage to get warm soon, he was going to die for sure.

How did he wind up in this mess, anyway? All he had wanted was to go and warn Rapunzel what this little girl was planning to do. He never wanted to be dragged along for the ride.

While Emma had no idea that her new pet belonged to the Coronan princess and was named Pascal, she did recognize that the little chameleon was cold, and she adjusted her grip on Angus's reins to hold them with one hand in order to stroke Pascal's head with the other.

"Oh! Are you cold, Piku? I'm sorry. Here, why don't I let you sit inside Jackie's glove for now? You'll stay warmer that way."

With only a brief pause to glance up and ensure that the path up ahead was clear, Emma redirected her attention towards rummaging through the pocket of her green cloak until she pulled out the white silk glove she had taken from Jack at the party the night before. After prying open the hole in the fabric, she successfully shepherded the cold little chameleon into the glove, and then put him back up on her shoulder and tucked him a bit under her cloak as well for extra warmth.

"There! Is that better now?"

Pascal squeaked out an affirmative. While he still didn't like being called Piku and desperately wished he could be with Rapunzel right now instead of Emma, he did have to admit that he was definitely warmer now than he had been a few minutes ago.

Emma smiled. She was glad her new friend appreciated what she had done for him. She was about to tell Pascal this herself, but that was when an icy cold wind blew through the forest, and she instinctively shivered in the saddle.

"Brr! It's freezing out here!" she whimpered, rubbing her bare palms together repeatedly in a desperate attempt to warm them back up.

Angus whinnied in agreement, and even Pascal chirped accordingly as he nodded his small head at her words.

"Jackie must've been really upset when he ran away to make it this cold outside. Do you guys think that when we find him, he'll be willing to hear my apology? I didn't mean to hurt his feelings."

Angus just continued to force his way through the tall mounds of snow and didn't do anything in regards to a reply to Emma, but Pascal nodded to the little girl. While the tiny reptile didn't know all the details about what had happened at the coronation party that had led to Jackson Overland causing an eternal winter to spread throughout the land, he was still sure that the boy would be willing to listen to her apology. Truth be told, Pascal was counting on Jack to accept Emma's apology, if for no other reason than it would force the boy to drag his sister back to the city. Unless Emma found Jack, and Jack took Emma back to Arendelle, there was a good chance that Pascal might never see Rapunzel again, and he didn't want that at all.

He wanted to go back to Corona with Rapunzel and spend the rest of his life adventure-free! Was that such a crime?

"But then again," Emma went on, and Pascal tuned back in to reality to listen to her. "I wouldn't have pushed him that hard, and none of this would have happened at all if he had just told me he had secret ice and snow powers. Hey, Piku? Why do you think Jack never told me he had magic in him? Other than the fact that he froze everything like this, his powers are cool! I wish he would have told me about them. I would've loved to play in the snow every day had I known he could make it."

Pascal gave her a tiny shrug with his small shoulders, which were gradually turning back to green rather than blue thanks to being inside the silk glove. He couldn't give her an answer at all on that. He had no idea why her big brother had never told her about his magic. Maybe it was to protect himself from people who would want to use him for their own self interests. After all, that was the story that Rapunzel had believed for so long and why she had agreed to stay in that tower. It could be a similar sort of belief that caused Emma's older brother to keep his powers a secret from everyone he knew. And then again, he could be wrong and there could be a whole other reason as to why no one knew about Jack's ice and snow magic until now. Either way, Pascal had no way of knowing for sure, and therefore, he couldn't give Emma a direct answer.

"Do you think… Do you think Jack even loves me?"

Pascal's eyes immediately snapped back to the little girl, completely shocked by what she had asked. Emma noticed his gaze, and quickly explained.

"You need to understand, Piku, that Jack has barely ever acted like a real big brother to me. He's… He's shut me out of his life completely! He's only ever told me one bedtime story, and no matter how many times I ask him to tell it to me again, he won't do it. I ask him to play with me every once in a while, and he tells me no. I knock on his bedroom door and ask him if he would just _talk_ to me, he tells me to go away. I kind of get why he did all that now, because of his ice powers and all, but still… Why didn't he tell me? Did he think I can't keep a secret? I can, you know! A few years ago, my friend Jamie stole an entire chocolate pie out of the kitchens and shared it with me and all our friends. We ate the whole thing in one of the secret passages in the castle so that our parents and the other servants wouldn't find us, since they were all searching for the pie thief. We all swore we would never tell another human being about us eating the pie, and none of us have! I'm telling you right now because you're technically not a person and can't tell anyone that I told you about it, so me telling you this secret doesn't count, but other than that, doesn't the fact that I've kept it a secret from people count for something?! I can keep secrets! So why didn't Jackie tell me about his powers, huh? He… He doesn't even love me, does he…?"

Pascal had no reply to her question. For one thing, the little reptile honestly had no idea how to answer that statement in a way that Emma would be able to understand him. And for another, the chameleon didn't want to get involved in this at all. Her wondering about whether or not Jack loved and cared for her was between the two of them. He was Rapunzel's friend and companion first and foremost, and he was not about to get in the middle of what sounded like a lifetime's worth of unresolved differences between her and her older brother.

Emma soon realized that her new pet wasn't planning to give her a straight forward answer to her question, and she sighed exasperatedly as Angus continued walking along underneath the branches of a snow-covered evergreen tree. "Oh well… He's always been a private person anyway, so I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised… He's a stinker! And just because he doesn't love me doesn't mean I don't love him. I'm gonna find him, no matter what!"

She started to chuckle at her own words, but that was when one of the snowy branches overhead suddenly snapped from the weight of the snow piled up on top of it, and great chunks of the powdery white substance crashed down upon herself, Angus, and Pascal.

"Whoa!" she cried out, shocked by what had happened from right out of the blue.

Pascal made a squeak of fear himself as he curled further inside the white glove as a means of self-preservation.

But Angus's reaction was the worst one of all.

Frightened by the bursts of snow falling on top of him, the enormous Shire horse whinnied at the top of his lungs as he reared back high in the air. Emma shrieked in terror as she struggled to grasp hold of his neck so as to remain seated in his saddle.

"Angus! Angus, please! Calm down!" she squealed in desperation. "It's just snow! It's okay!"

But Angus refused to listen to reason. Within seconds, the skittish horse bucked its small rider off its back before galloping a few short paces away so it could get away from the tree, where snow was still falling off low hanging branches.

Emma screamed as she went flying through the air, and Pascal was squeaking frantically in genuine fear as the glove fell off her shoulder in the process and he became airborne, too. Thankfully, neither of them were hurt, as they landed in a large, rather soft snow pile right underneath another tree, but they both started shaking and shivering madly as they slowly sat back up again.

"Ow! Angus! Why'd you do that?! I could have gotten really hurt!" Emma whined, massaging a small bump that was forming on the back of her scalp as she turned to glare at the black Shire horse.

Angus was unfazed by her attitude. He merely shook his head from side to side to get rid of any snow that was still stuck in his mane before trotting back over to the little girl and gently nudging her shoulder with his white muzzle.

But Emma's glare remained on her face. "No, I will not forgive you! Just because Princess Merida is used to you throwing her off doesn't mean that everyone likes it! You need to learn to not be so skittish around new things! Especially since we're out looking for my big brother! He's magical, you know!"

Angus blinked at her with his dark eyes, not fully understanding what it was the child was telling him, but Emma paid this no mind. She was now searching about frantically in the snow for any sign of her brother's glove and Piku. However, the glove was pure white, and that made it extremely difficult for her to locate it.

"Piku! Piku, where are you?!" she cried anxiously, her fingers going numb as she shoved great tons of wet, cold snow around in her desperation to find her new pet. "Answer me, please! Tell me you're okay!"

A very faint chittering cut through the air from somewhere off to Emma's right, and within seconds, Emma was digging her way through more of the snow pile to find the little chameleon.

"Keep squeaking like that, Piku! I need you to chirp as loud as you can so I can find you!"

And so Pascal squeaked as loud as he possibly could so Emma could hear him, and Emma kept flinging as much snow as she possibly could out of the way so she could find the little green fellow in her brother's glove. It took a few minutes more, but finally, the young Overland girl finally succeeded in finding the small shivering body of Pascal curled up in a tiny ball inside the silk confines of Jack's white glove.

"There you are, Piku! I'm glad you're okay!" she exclaimed, reaching down and collecting the white accessory along with the freezing cold reptile out of the snow pile.

Pascal listlessly nodded to her in return. After getting almost buried alive in that snow drift, he was far too cold right now to do anything further in regards to answering Emma other than nodding or shaking his head.

Emma frowned when she saw his lifeless reaction. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Piku! You stay inside Jackie's glove for now in my pocket, 'kay? You just focus on getting warm!"

Pascal made a barely audible chirp of thanks as Emma gently set him and the glove back inside the pocket of her green cloak. If she was going to leave him alone for a while so he could try and get warm again, he wasn't going to complain. He was far too cold to do so anyway!

As soon as he was safely tucked away again, Emma tried to grab hold of a low hanging tree branch right near her head in an attempt to drag herself up to her feet again, but as soon as she put all her weight on it, the snow that was situated on top came loose and tumbled all over her, effectively burying her completely in snow.

"Oof!" she groaned as the weight of the snow knocked her down flat on her back from her sitting position, and she had the hardest time trying to sit back up. First and foremost though, she brushed the snow off her face.

"Why me?!"

Pascal started making frantic chittering noises from inside her pocket, as he was anxious to know what had just happened. Angus, on the other hand, snorted as he pawed the ground. If Emma didn't know better, she'd say that the black steed was amused by what had happened to her.

Not in the mood to argue with the horse and risk losing whatever energy she still had left after everything that had just happened and riding nonstop for so long, Emma just fixed the horse with a cold glare as she fought to free herself from the great pile up of snow covering her from head to toe.

"Mental note, never follow a suggestion given out by the princes of Dunbroch again," she muttered under her breath when she finally managed to stand up again. "All three of them are little menaces and were looking to get me killed out here by recommending I ride this evil horse. I probably would have been better off riding that insane white horse instead."

Angus had no idea what it was she had said, since her words were barely above a whisper and he therefore didn't hear her. However, Pascal heard her perfectly from where he was inside her pocket, and he couldn't help but snicker a bit at the naïve comment. If Emma _had_ tried to ride Maximus out here in pursuit of her brother, she wouldn't have made it out of the capitol city at all. No way would the loyal Coronan horse have allowed her to embark on this ridiculously suicidal mission out into the middle of nowhere when it was freezing cold outside… And especially not when it was all just to find the boy who had caused this icy mess in the first place.

It took Emma a few minutes longer to regain feeling in her hands, arms, and legs from being in the snow for so long, but when she finally did recover her bearings, she approached Angus's side ready to try this again. However, a problem soon presented itself in the form of her height, and she found herself hopping up and down repeatedly to try and grab hold of the saddle in an attempt to drag herself up onto his back again.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" she said with obvious frustration as she tried to reach for some part of his saddle to grasp onto. "Why must I be so short?!"

Angus stood still and patient as he waited for Emma to climb onto his back, but no matter how hard or high Emma jumped, her efforts were to no avail. She was simply too short to be able to climb up onto the Shire horse's back without some type of footstool underneath to give her a boost up.

And it wasn't like there were any footstools around her right now, considering she was in the middle of nowhere out in the forest.

She didn't like the current predicament, but it wasn't like there was anything she could do to change it either. When realization dawned on her that it was going to be impossible for her to get back onto Angus, in a fit of frustration Emma stomped one of her shoes down hard in the snow and blew hot air to get a tuft of her dark brown hair out of her eyes.

"Wonderful! Thanks for bucking me off, Angus! Now I have to walk!" she snapped at the horse. "The whole point of taking you with me was so I _wouldn't_ have to walk while looking for my big brother! So yeah, thanks a lot, Horsey!"

Angus merely blinked at her. However, Pascal fought the urge to start laughing loudly from his spot inside Emma's pocket as the girl seized hold of the horse's reins, started dragging him behind her, and shuffled forward as best as she could on the trail through thickly packed snow. This had to be some form of karma. The way this girl had taken him against his will and had all but stolen the crown princess of Dunbroch's horse from right under her nose, it was only fair that she should pay the price for her actions. Of course, the little girl meant no harm with what she was doing. She was just trying to find her older brother, and Pascal couldn't fault her for that, but she still shouldn't have taken himself or this horse out of Arendelle in order to do so. It was only a matter of time now before she finally called it quits on this adventure and turned right around to head back to Arendelle.

But to Pascal's utter astonishment, Emma didn't call it quits.

Hours ticked past, but Emma never once showed any sign of stopping and turning around to go back to the kingdom, even though the little green reptile could tell that she was definitely not in any condition to keep wandering around lost in the forest. Darkness soon fell over the Arendelle woods, but even though Emma was freezing cold, bordering on falling over with exhaustion, and positively starving – to the point where Pascal could hear her tummy rumbling plain as day – the little girl refused to give up hope. She just kept trudging along as best as she could through the snow while leading Angus behind her by his reins, and periodically kept calling out desperately for Jack.

"Jack…?" she croaked out in a tired, weak voice as she struggled to climb up a steep hill while dragging Angus behind her at the same time. "Jack…? Come on, Jackie! Where are you…? Come back home to Arendelle with me! Queen Elsa… Queen Elsa and Princess Anna don't hate you for your powers! And I don't either! I still love you, Big Brother!"

But it didn't matter. Jack was nowhere in the nearby vicinity, so there was no one around to hear or answer her desperate pleas.

Emma sighed with frustration as she did her best to not slip and fall as she made it to the top of the snowy mound. "Snow… it had to be snow! Don't get me wrong, Angus, Piku, I like snow. I love winter! But why couldn't Jack have had summer magic instead? He could have covered everything with nice soft, warm sand instead and made a refreshing ocean to swim in!"

Angus nickered a bit at her words, and even Pascal managed to let out an affectionate chirp. Emma could be quite adorable and funny when she wanted to be, even if she didn't realize that she was doing so.

Emma smiled a bit at their encouragement, but before she could do anything further, she caught sight of something up ahead…. Something that demanded the ten-year-old's full and undivided attention.

A little further up ahead, from above the snowy treetops of some very tall fir trees, great tendrils of thick gray smoke were rising in wispy spirals from one particular area in the forest.

And where there was smoke, there had to be—

"Fire!" Emma cried out, forgetting all about how cold and tired she was a few moments ago. She started jumping up and down in her excitement and delight over finding some form of civilization only a little ways off. "Angus! Pascal! There's fire! We're saved! We can warm up there for a while! Maybe even get some food to eat!"

Her two animal companions were rather amused by her newfound strength and cheeriness just from seeing the smoke on the horizon, but before either of them could say or do anything at all, Emma's excited jumping caused her to lose her footing. She unintentionally let go of Angus's reins as she went tumbling all the way down the snowy hill as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Angus! Piku! Help!" she shouted as she kept rolling down the snow drift.

Angus trotted down the slope after the clumsy child as fast as he could without losing his balance himself, but Pascal was in no position to help her, considering he was stuck in her pocket. He was fumbling down the hill along with her, squeaking in terror at this unexpected predicament.

Truth be told, the only reason Emma stopped falling at all was because she reached the bottom of the hill. When she finally came to a full stop, she landed in the very middle of a watery stream that unfortunately for her had not frozen over like the rest of the forest, and she was now saturated from head to toe on a night when it was below freezing temperatures outside.

Within seconds, the little girl was a shaking, shivering mess.

" _C-Cold!"_ she squeaked, scooting backwards as fast as she could to get to the snow bank so she could try and stand up on solid land. "Cold! C-Cold! C-Cold! Cold! C-Cold! S-So cold!"

Inside her cloak pocket, Pascal shared her sentiments. Like Emma, he too was now completely drenched from the watery soak in the stream. He was trembling violently as he did his best to maneuver himself out of Jack's saturated glove and her soggy wet pocket. Once out, the next task was to try and wiggle his way up the green material of her cloak until he could finally situate himself back on Emma's shoulder. Emma was just as wet as he was, but he would have frozen to death in her soaking wet pocket much quicker than he would freeze to death out of it.

Emma was just standing back up again when Angus finally made it all the way down the hill, and quickly he rubbed up against her. There wasn't much the horse could do for the little girl in regards to how cold and wet she now was, but nuzzling her was the least he could do to try and warm her back up.

For the first time since leaving Arendelle, Emma felt grateful to Hamish, Hubert, and Harris for insisting she take the oversized horse in her quest; and she patted Angus's side appreciatively to express how thankful she felt towards him right now for trying to help her maintain her body heat.

"T-T-Thank you, Angus," she whispered in between her chattering teeth. "Let's… L-Let's keep going, 'kay? W-Wherever that fire is c-coming from can't be too far away, n-now! We… We have t-to keep moving! And if w-we don't… I don't think P-Piku is gonna make it through the n-night! He's s-shaking worse than I am r-right now!"

The ebony black horse bopped his head up and down at that, almost as though he understood what it was Emma had just said. Without even having to be asked, he allowed Emma to lean up against him since she was so shaky on her legs, and then walked at a rather slow pace so she could keep up with him as he headed straight forward in the direction of the smoke. Soon they saw an orangey-yellow light a short ways up ahead.

Due to how cold the temperature was that night, all of Emma's clothing was frozen stiff within a few minutes of leaving the stream behind. She felt like a walking icicle as she depended on the great Shire horse to walk since she could barely move. Perhaps even worse though, Emma couldn't help but feel rather ashamed of herself for being so careless and getting her clothing in the state that they were in.

For starters, the green cloak she was wearing right now wasn't even hers. It was just something that had been lying around the castle stables that Jamie had given to her so she wouldn't freeze to death out here while looking for Jack. She had no idea who the cloak actually belonged to, but she would have to remember to look for the owner when she got back to Arendelle and apologize to him or her for ruining it.

And then there was the matter of her green servant's dress. Elsa was always lenient in the past over children wearing the required uniform around the castle if they were under the age of twelve. The only reason she had all the children wear it yesterday was because it was her coronation, and she understandably wanted everyone to look presentable for it. And now, during one of the rare instances that she wore the formal green dress, Emma had completely ruined it beyond repair, considering that not only was it now somewhat frozen thanks to falling in the small brook, but it also had a great deal of holes and snags in the fabric from tumbling down the hill, too.

She was definitely in for it when she got back to the castle.

Still though, there was no time to worry about any of that right now. She had to focus on moving forward. Whoever had that fire going surely wouldn't be cruel enough to turn away an all but frozen child wandering around the forest at night in the dead of winter with only a horse and a small chameleon for company, right?

It seemed to take forever in Emma's opinion, but at long last, Angus led her past one final thicket of trees. When they cleared them, a small log cabin that was practically buried under the amount of snow that had fallen on top of it appeared before the little servant girl, the black Shire horse, and the little green reptile. Smoke was steadily rising from its stone chimney situated near the very middle of the roof, and from its windows, rays of golden light were streaming out in an inviting manner. There was even a warmly lit lantern beside the snow-covered sign that was hanging over the lodge's doors. Not too far away from the little house, there was another snowy building. It was most likely a barn, but unlike the warm and cozy atmosphere that the cottage radiated, this building was devoid of any signs of life whatsoever. It was shrouded in darkness, and none of the lights from the hut reached it at all.

Emma had no idea who the log cabin and the nearby stable belonged to, but she didn't care.

What mattered was that there was a house in front of her with a fire going inside.

Fire.

Warmth.

People.

She didn't like the idea of stopping for the night when Jack was still out there somewhere with that evil man who had attacked Arendelle hunting for him, but it wasn't like she could keep searching for him in her present state.

She could explain her predicament to whoever owned this little house – that she just wanted to spend one night here warming up near their fire and would be on her way. She would even be willing to sleep in the stables beside Angus if they didn't want her to come inside, provided of course that they would at least be willing to spare her an extra lantern so she wouldn't freeze to death in the probably drafty building. Perhaps they would even be nice enough to provide her with a hot meal! She hadn't eaten anything since the coronation party, when Jack had swiped her that small chocolate truffle from the refreshment table. She was beyond starving now, and she could only assume that Angus and Pascal had to be too.

Emma smiled at her own train of thought. Yeah, whoever lived here had to be nice! They would surely be willing to put her up for one night, right?

She opened her mouth to explain her thought process to Angus and Pascal, but at precisely that moment, an icy wind blew through the air, and almost succeeded in knocking Emma back down into the snow again. She _would_ have fallen over had it not been for the fact that she was still depending on Angus to stand. But Emma still squeaked and shivered in what little warmth her frozen cloak still provided her with before burying her face into Angus's side. Likewise, Pascal trembled all over as he planted himself as close to her neck as he could to try and get under the curtain of her straight hair. Angus was the only one unaffected by the nippy breeze. He waited patiently for the wind to die down, and for his young temporary owner, to regain her senses, so they could resume their small trek to the cottage a few yards ahead.

When the cold gale faded away, Emma poked her head out from the course black hair of the Shire horse to reveal a bright red, runny nose.

"W-We're almost there…" she stuttered, doing her best to sound cheerful and not desperate. "J-Just… Just a little b-bit further!"

Pascal made a weak chittering sound in acknowledgement while Angus neighed and kept trudging forward through the snow. In the opinion of the green reptile, they couldn't get there soon enough.

It took another two minutes of trekking through the snow to reach the small cottage, but they at last made it. Even though Emma was on the verge of frostbite and was so tired she couldn't think straight, she wanted to jump for joy. They had made it! They had made it to the cottage! They were going to live to see tomorrow!

Sparing only an extra few moments to loop Angus's reins around a small hitch post, Emma shuffled forward as best as she could in her frozen stiff dress and cloak to climb up the short flight of steps to the cabin's wooden porch. But before she dared to knock on the front door, she glanced upward at the snow-covered sign that was hanging over the archway.

She stretched out an arm and jumped up and down to try and knock the snow off the sign so she could see what it said, but to her great displeasure, she was simply too short to reach it. "W-Wish I could read w-what it says…" she muttered in a bitter tone.

She was about ready to shrug aside the sign and walk past the two mysterious wooden carvings of small trolls that stood guard on either side of the door to go ahead and knock anyway. However, before she could, Pascal surprised her by jumping off her shoulder to stick himself to one of the pillars that provided support for the roof. Emma blinked in surprise as she watched the little chameleon scurry his way up the pillar until he reached the underside of the porch's roof, and then scuttled along across that until he could hop down on top of the first hanging sign. Upon landing on the hanging wooden board, the snow immediately toppled off and uncovered the words carved into it that had been hidden from view.

"'W-Wandering Oaken's Trading P-Post,'" the little girl read out loud. "This p-place is a store?"

Before she could puzzle over the reasons why a store could be situated all the way out in the middle of nowhere when there was no one around to purchase any of its goods, Pascal hopped down off the large sign to land on the smaller one hanging below it.

"'And S-Sauna,'" she recited.

Normally, people would have been overjoyed to hear that there was a sauna inside when it was the dead of winter and freezing cold outside, but Emma had never heard of the word 'sauna' before, and honestly had no idea what that could be.

"Angus, P-Piku? Do either of y-you know what a 's-sauna' is?" she asked in between her chattering teeth.

The word 'sauna' was just as foreign to Angus as it was to Emma, and to express his disinterest in the word he simply flicked his long dark tail back and forth repeatedly to get rid of any clumps of snow that was clinging to it. Emma briefly scowled at him for being no help at all before turning her attention to Pascal, who was still using his webbed feet to hold on to the smaller hanging sign. Unlike Angus, Pascal knew very well what a sauna was, as Rapunzel's mother had treated her to a day of rest and relaxation at a small spa back in Corona for her birthday last year. Of course, the golden-haired princess had been kind enough to allow her best friend in the whole world to tag along with her for the ride. But unfortunately, Pascal was not as adept at translating what he wanted to say to people who were unused to his way of communication and its subtleties… it other words, everyone aside from Rapunzel and occasionally Eugene. It was therefore impossible for the small chameleon to explain to Emma what a sauna was.

All he could really do was simply nod and make a series of chirps and squeaks to try to tell her what he knew about saunas. But as predicted, Emma couldn't understand him.

"F-Forget it, Piku. It d-doesn't matter," she said at last. "But… But thank y-you for knocking down the s-snow so I could read the s-signs! That was v-very nice of you! Y-You… You can hop d-down now!"

She cupped her shaking hands together and held them out slightly so Pascal could jump down and land safely. Pascal chittered appreciatively before doing exactly that, and once he was back in Emma's grasp, she set him down gently on her shoulder before turning around to look back at Angus.

"We'll s-see if we can get any… any f-food and a place to s-stay for the night, Angus. H-Hang tight for n-now."

Angus whinnied in what Emma took to be an affirmative way. She stiffly raised her hand to wave goodbye to him before spinning her body forward so she could heave open the surprisingly heavy door to the trading post, and then shuffled inside, unintentionally making it slam shut behind her with a loud thud when she let go of the doorknob.

The moment that Emma entered the store, a bell rang from somewhere above her, signaling her entrance into the shop, and a welcoming wave of warmth washed over her small body. She couldn't help but sigh in delight as she scooted herself further into the building and away from the chill surrounding the shop's door. Meanwhile Pascal found himself stretching out on her shoulder so he too could bask in the heat. Compared to the arctic cold temperatures and the nippiness in the wind, this trading post store was nothing short of paradise to the little girl and her unwilling chameleon pet. Stumbling upon this place during their search for Jack had been a stroke of very good luck indeed!

"Warm…" Emma said to herself in a happy tone as she rubbed her freezing fingers together to get them to start warming up as well. "It's nice and warm in here, isn't it, Piku?"

Pascal nodded as he glanced around, trying to take in their new surroundings, and as soon as Emma regained feeling in her fingers again, she did the same.

Even though Oaken's Wandering Trading Post was a store that was located smack dab in the middle of nowhere, it was still a well-stocked little shop with a welcoming aura. There were a variety of shelves against the walls with an assortment of trinkets and mountaineering supplies that were available for purchase adorning them. On a smaller stand in the middle of the store, there was a great deal of summer ware that was apparently on sale because of the change in the weather outside. Even though Emma was not looking to buy a swimsuit – since it would hardly help her right now nor did she have any money – she couldn't help but admire a rather pretty pink child-sized swimsuit on display.

A roaring fire was blazing in the fireplace against one of the walls, and Emma instinctively moved closer to it to try and thaw out her ice-coated clothes and warm up further. Pascal chirped as he ran down the length of one of her arms to get closer to the hot flames too. Fire. Glorious fire. Wonderful fire. If it weren't for the fact that Emma still had to find the owner of this place and ask for permission to stay and warm up here in the store for a little while – and if they had any food that they'd be willing to spare – she would have gladly stayed here in front of the crackling embers for the rest of the night and wouldn't have complained once.

With a sigh, Emma forced herself to turn away from the pleasure that the heat of the flames provided her wet, chilly body with, and started to look around curiously for whoever ran the place. This was a nice little rest stop and perfect for weary travelers or mountaineers that ventured through the Arendelle forest, but someone had to own the place, right? Where was the shop's owner?

"Yoo-hoo!"

Emma squeaked. Where had that come from?!

She whirled around so fast that Pascal had to grab onto her hand with all four of his small webbed feet to keep from flying off her. But when Emma finally saw who it was that had spoken to her, her nerves instantly relaxed.

Sitting behind the counter against the left-hand wall was a burly middle-aged man with strawberry-blonde hair and a thick mustache and sideburns. His blue eyes twinkled happily as he smiled kindly at the little girl who had just entered his small store.

"Good evening, little girl. Welcome to Oaken's Wandering Trading Post and Sauna. I am Oaken, the owner. Would you or your parents be interested in anything from our big summer blow out today? Half off swimming suits, clogs, and a sun balm of my own invention, yah?"

Emma blinked, and shared a look of surprise with Pascal before focusing back on the good-natured clerk.

"Um… no thank you, Mr. Oaken," she said politely. "I… I'm just looking for some food and a place to warm up for a while. I won't be any trouble, I promise! I'll sit here quietly in front of the fire and you won't even know I'm here."

Oaken smiled and held out an expectant hand. "Of course, you may stay in front of the fire as long as you want and I'd be happy to supply you with some food. Just as soon as your parents come inside and pay the price for such a meal."

Emma was taken aback. "I… I don't have a daddy," she told him. "And my mommy died a few years ago."

Now it was Oaken's turn to look surprised. "Then who are you traveling with out here in the forest at night? And with it being winter in the middle of summer, no less!"

"It's just me and Piku here. And Angus," she answered him, holding out her hand to show him Pascal before pointing towards the window so he would see Angus tied to the hitch post outside. "There's no one else with us."

Oaken turned and stared out the window in disbelief at the single black horse pawing the snowy ground just outside his shop, and when he finally glanced back at small Emma, he was wide-eyed.

"You're out here alone? Are you lost?"

"No…! Well… yes? No? I… I don't know. I don't exactly know where I am, but I'm just trying to find my big brother. He ran away from the castle just before the winter started, and that evil Shadow Man took off after him. I gotta find Jackie. Have you seen him? He hasn't passed through here, has he?"

"Evil… Evil Shadow Man?" Oaken repeated, sounding downright baffled by her description of the man who had attacked Arendelle right after Jack ran away. He blinked a few more times for good measure before finally shaking his head in disbelief and answering her question. "Only one crazy enough to be out in this storm is you, Dear."

Emma's hopes were all but squashed upon hearing this, and she couldn't help but hang her head in disappointment. Pascal frowned when he saw her disheartened expression, and nudged his small head against her cheek a bit to try and cheer her up. While Emma appreciated the gesture, it didn't do much in terms of restoring her confidence. Oaken hadn't seen Jack? Perfect… Now how in the world was she supposed to find him?

Perhaps she ought to ask permission to just spend the night out in the barn? She'd probably go hungry a little longer since Oaken hadn't addressed the fact that she needed something to eat and didn't have parents to pay for it, he surely wouldn't mind if she slept quietly outside with Angus and 'Piku' to help keep her warm. She wouldn't be any trouble. She'd be gone by dawn. Hungry or not, she was going to find her big brother no matter what. But she couldn't do that when she was all but dead on her feet.

She opened her mouth to make this simple request, but before she could so much as utter a single syllable, there was a sudden noise from outside. Emma and Oaken quickly turned to glance out the window and see what was out there.

Just outside the window there were three young girls that were dismounting from their two horses. They all appeared to be in their late teens.

One of them had incredibly long blonde hair that was partially unbraided and wrapped around the form of an unconscious boy. At the moment, she was struggling to get the boy off the back of her horse without accidentally dropping him in the cold snow. In comparison, the other two had already successfully dismounted and were preoccupied with Angus, who was still tied up firmly to the hitch post right outside. The girl with messy curly red hair was the more excited of the two. In fact, she seemed downright delighted. The moment she saw the horse, she ran right up to him and threw her arms around his neck to hug him tight. Meanwhile, the other girl, a platinum-blonde in a blue winter cape, was glancing curiously at the black Shire horse, but then she looked right past him to examine the building in front of her from top to bottom. When she happened to glance at the window however, her eyes locked right onto Emma, and Emma caught a glimpse of the crystal blue orbs widening with surprise.

Emma immediately backed away and out of sight. Oh, no! Queen Elsa was here! She was here with Princess Rapunzel and Princess Merida! Emma hadn't looked long enough to see who the unconscious boy was, but she didn't dare to try looking out the window again just to make out his features. While the little girl had no idea what he or either of the foreign princesses were doing all the way out here, Emma knew that Elsa would have come into the forest for one reason, and one reason only: to take her back to the castle. The queen was going to drag her back to Arendelle before she could find her big brother. Why Elsa had elected to come herself and not simply send out a search party of royal guards to look for her, Emma didn't know, but she did know this:

She was not going back to Arendelle.

She was not going back to the castle.

Not until she found Jack.

If Elsa thought she was going to go home with her quietly, she had another thing coming!

"I stand corrected. You and that young group."

Emma whirled around to stare at Oaken. "Huh?" she asked.

Oaken was unaware of the relationship between Emma and Queen Elsa – not that he could tell that Queen Elsa was Queen Elsa from his viewpoint behind the counter. "You're not the only one crazy enough to be out here in this storm. You and that young group of people out— Hey! What are you doing?!"

Before Oaken had even finished speaking, Emma was scurrying as far away from the window and Elsa's gaze as she could. She had to hide. No way was she letting the new queen drag her back home before she found Jack. No way.

She spied a wooden door that led to a room just off to the side of the counter, and she darted toward it without a second thought. As she was about to throw it open and hide herself inside though, she spun back around to meet the proprietor's befuddled face.

"I'm not here! You never saw me!" she said in a rush.

And without giving the man a chance to ask what she was doing or why she was apparently trying to hide, Emma flung the door open and scrambled inside, letting the door slam shut behind her. But as soon as she was safely hidden away, she became aware of two things at once:

One, both she and Pascal began to pant and sweat almost immediately as they abruptly found themselves inside some type of boiling hot steam room.

And two, she was now face-to-face with a nude family of five who were only clothed with towels around their bare bodies. They were staring at her and the little reptile on her shoulder with matching looks of surprise for interrupting their family steam.

Emma awkwardly chuckled as she pressed her back flat against the door, not really wanting to get any closer to any of them. "Um… hi! Don't mind me or Piku! We'll be gone in a sec! Just… keep doing whatever it is you're doing!"

* * *

"Angus! Thank the heavens you're all right!" Merida cried, jumping down from her seat behind Elsa before the new queen had directed her horse Sitron to come to a full stop.

Merida ran forward and threw her arms around the black Shire horse's neck. "I was so mad when I saw that wee lassie take you! Tell me you bucked her off at least once for doing that!"

The gigantic black horse flicked his tail back and forth several times as he nuzzled his head against his true mistress's face, and Merida couldn't help but lightly laugh as she gently stroked his mane.

"Good to hear it! You're _my_ horse, Angus! Never forget that!"

"Merida! Ignore the horse! You and Elsa get over here and help me!" Rapunzel cried. She was struggling with all her might to somehow get Hiccup off Maximus's back without accidentally dropping him, and the weight of the thin Viking boy was too much for the Coronan princess to deal with on her own.

Merida merely glanced back over her shoulder to throw a bitter scowl at the long-haired German princess. "Have I not made it clear by now that I want nothing to do with _him?!"_ she spat. "He's a Viking! If you drop him and crack his skull open, I'll dance for joy! He's not my problem!"

Elsa had been watching the windows of the small trading post in front of them with curious eyes ever since Emma abruptly vanished from view. But upon hearing what the Scottish princess had just said to her cousin, she couldn't help but sigh. "Merida, we understand that you don't like him or his people, but have you forgotten that Prince Hiccup has been nothing but polite to you and your fellow clansmen from Dunbroch all this time? He said it himself that he has no quarrel with you, even if the rest of his tribe feels differently. The least you could do is help Rapunzel and myself in getting him down from Rapunzel's horse."

Merida was completely unfazed. "Get him off yourself if you're so worried! I'm not lifting one finger to help him! I want nothing to do with him!"

Elsa's eyes narrowed considerably at Merida's reply, but said nothing further before moving over to assist Rapunzel in getting Hiccup off Maximus's back. Together, they gently set him down in the cold snow. It had been a full day since Rapunzel had knocked him out, and he hadn't even shown the slightest sign of waking up once. How the Viking heir could still be out cold, Elsa didn't know. But what she did know was that Hiccup's time of staying unconscious was officially over. They had to wake him up somehow if they were to have any chance of progressing beyond this point after she went in to fetch Emma – who had apparently decided to hide somewhere in the store upon seeing them.

But the question was, how _could_ they snap Hiccup out of it?

"We need to wake him up somehow," she declared, bringing Merida and Rapunzel's eyes toward her. "After I get Emma, we're going up the mountain to find Jack, and we can't do that with him in this state. We have to get him to open his eyes."

Merida scoffed. "Wake him up? We should be counting our blessings he's still out cold! If he wakes up, we should hit him on the head again to ensure he stays asleep!"

Rapunzel shot the Dunbroch princess a quick glare. "I never meant to knock him out, all right?! I thought he was a ruffian or thug! I'm _not_ about to hurt the Berkian Prince again when he never did anything to any of us!"

"Fine, then! Don't help me when he comes to! I'll knock him out myself!"

Elsa's blue eyes turned as cold as the ice coating their surroundings. "Princess Merida, I thought I made it clear before that there will _not_ be any assassinations or deliberate injuries of any sort to fellow royal and noble guests whilst here in my country!" she said sharply.

Merida's fiery glare met Elsa's icy one, but she nonetheless growled and looked away from the Arendelle queen after a few moments.

"Fine, fine! I promise I won't hurt him! At least not before he wakes up…"

"No, that also extends to after—"

"If he regains consciousness and tries to scream at the top of his lungs for the whole world to hear, or tries to run away from us out into the middle of nowhere, I reserve the right to do whatever's necessary to subdue him again so we can convince him to listen to us! I think that's more than fair!"

There was a brief pause as Elsa silently considered this, but then she nodded in agreement.

"Very well, but that's as far as violence goes. I will not tolerate you hurting him any further than that."

"Whatever…"

"What should we do with him for now, Elsa? I mean, it's not like we can take him with us inside the store while we get that little girl. Um… what did you say her name was again?"

"It's Emma, Rapunzel. And for now… for now let's have you hide him in that old barn over there. You better stay with him, too. I mean, well, you still technically have him tied up in your hair…"

"First of all, you'd be surprised as to just how long and strong my hair happens to be, so don't give me that look like you think I'm crazy. Secondly, what about Pascal? He's the whole reason I came on this expedition! I need to go in there and see if Emma still has him with her!"

"We will bring her outside as soon as we find her so you can check her for your pet, Rapunzel, I promise. But we need you to keep an eye on Hiccup for now. Don't try to wake him up yet. We should all be there for when that happens. Just get him inside the barn and wait for us to return."

Rapunzel frowned at her cousin's answer, but nodded anyway as it was still a good plan.

"All right. Meet me in there with Emma as soon as you find her," she said, doing her best to keep her dejected feelings out of her voice as she spoke.

Elsa and Merida silently nodded to that, and then the trio of girls separated. Elsa and Merida – who was still keeping her bow in one hand and her quiver of arrows slung over her body – shuffled through the thick snow towards the few porch steps of the trading post. Meanwhile, Rapunzel kept the large wickerwork basket strapped to her back and dragged the unconscious Viking boy with her hair in the direction of the old barn a little way away.

As soon as the Arendelle queen and the princess of Dunbroch entered the small shop –making the bell above the door tinkle a bit as it announced their presence – there was a distinct cough just off to the side of where they were standing near the entrance. At the sound, they both turned to gaze at Oaken.

"Yoo-hoo! Big summer blow out!" he said in a cheery tone. "May I interest either of you ladies in any sun balm or swimming suits?"

Elsa blinked at the sales pitch, but then she shook her head.

"No thank you, sir. We simply came in because of the horse tied up outside. It belongs to my friend here."

"Yeah, Angus is mine!" Merida heartily agreed, nodding firmly. "He was stolen from me by a wee lass called Emma! Is she here or not?!"

"A little girl named Emma?" Oaken repeated. There was a brief pause as he discretely nodded towards a door right next to the counter, and then he went on. "No, I do not believe I have. There's no child here. Not one that I know of, anyway."

Elsa and Merida got the message. Oaken might be telling them one thing right now, but he was also telling them exactly where Emma was, too.

"Oh, I see," Elsa said in a nonchalant tone as she and Merida walked as silently as possible towards the door. "We're sorry for bothering you."

"You're absolutely sure she's not here?" Merida questioned, doing her best to sound annoyed and skeptical of him as they came to a halt in front of the closed entryway to the unknown room.

Oaken was doing his best not to chuckle. "Positive. I think I would remember if I saw a little girl wandering alone in the woods at night, especially in this weather!"

There was a momentary silence as Elsa and Merida looked at each other, and then Merida lunged forward and threw the door open.

Both the royal girls were surprised when they saw the startled faces of the small family inside that had been pleasantly enjoying the steam that the sauna generated, but then they saw the small figure with a tiny green reptile on her shoulder that had been doing her best to hide behind one of the other kids in the room.

"Our apologies for interrupting all of you, but we have business with this little girl here," Elsa said at once.

Without waiting to hear protests from Emma or to listen to the murmurs of shock and mortification from the family that had been quietly enjoying their time in the sauna, the queen averted her eyes from the sauna family's towel-clad forms and stepped inside. She quickly seized hold of Emma's wrist and dragged her back out into the main area of the store before shutting the door behind her so as to not bother the innocent bystander family any further.

Emma's deep brown eyes were wide and shifting about nervously as she beheld the rather displeased expression of Elsa and the furious scowl adorning Merida's face. "Q-Queen Elsa! Princess Merida!" she said rather nervously, barely remembering her many years' worth of servant protocol to dip down into a quick, shaky curtsy. "What… What are you two doing here…?"

"Queen Elsa and Princess Merida of Dunbroch?! In my shop?!" Oaken repeated in disbelief. He quickly scrambled out from behind his counter – shocking all three girls with his large six foot three stature – and bowed down low to the platinum-blonde young woman and the curly-haired girl. "It is an honor, your majesty! And it's an honor to have you here too, your highness," he added after a moment, now addressing Merida. "I apologize for not recognizing either of you right away!"

Elsa smiled politely in return, but Merida just rolled her eyes.

"It is quite all right, sir. There is no need to apologize or bow to us."

"Bah! Just treat us like you would any other customers! And don't address me as 'princess' or 'your highness!' We're all equals here!"

Oaken looked horrorstruck at the very idea of treating the queen of his country or a foreign princess in the same manner that he treated any of his other customers. He considered himself to be a very pleasant and easygoing shop keeper – with the obvious exception being to anyone who disagreed with his prices or tried to shoplift – but that was simply not enough for royalty. However, before he could protest this and insist that he could never hope to be considered an equal to the queen or the princess, Elsa and Merida were already turning away from him to address Emma again.

"Why do you think we are here, Emma?" Elsa asked in a pointed tone. "You ran off from Arendelle without considering the consequences."

"And you stole my horse!" Merida added, her voice rather shrill from how hard she was seething. "You took Angus!"

Within seconds, Emma's worried expression turned into an angry glare. "I didn't steal your horse, Princess Merida! Your brothers gave me permission to ride him! It's not stealing if I had permission from someone in the Dunbroch royal family to take Angus. I apologize if me taking him wasn't all right with you, your highness, but he was one of the only two horses that were still awake when I left. It was either I take him, a relatively calm horse, or this absolutely _insane_ white one that wouldn't stop kicking his pen doors. I didn't feel safe trying to saddle that one up. And what else was I supposed to do, Queen Elsa? The way you were acting back in the courtyard after Jack ran away, you didn't care one way or another about sending someone after him."

Elsa's lips pressed together in a tight line. "That's not what happened back there, Emma. You were asking me to send someone out into the forest after him the minute he left. I wanted to do the same thing right then, but there were other matters that had to be discussed with the other kings and queens and the Viking chief first. I'm a queen now, not merely a princess. I had to act as a diplomat to the other nations first and foremost."

Emma just gave her a queer look in return before exchanging a confused look with Pascal on her shoulder. As she was still a child, she didn't understand things like politics, and therefore nothing Elsa had just said made any sense to her.

"…I don't know what any of that means, but it sounds like a stupid excuse to me!"

"Emma—"

"I don't care if you're the queen now, Queen Elsa! Jackie's my big brother! He's family! I'm going to find him! And unless you brought the entire Arendelle army with you out here to drag me back to the castle, you can't stop me! I'm finding him, with or without your blessing!"

And with that, the small Overland child ignored the nervous squeak Pascal made as she shoved her way past Elsa and Merida and started stomping towards the door. It didn't matter how cold, tired, or hungry she still was. Emma refused to stay here. She would rather take her chances freezing or starving to death out there in the forest than risk being forcibly brought back to Arendelle by Elsa and Merida.

"I didn't come out here to stop you, Emma. I'm here to help you find him."

Emma paused in mid-step, not believing her own ears. Then she abruptly spun around.

"What did you say?"

"I care about you, Emma. You're one of the sweetest children I've ever met. And Jack? Jack might be quiet and keeps to himself, but he is still my friend. I'm just as worried about him as you are. If you want to continue searching for your brother, then I'm going with you. I can't just let you wander around these woods all alone at night when the entire country is frozen over."

For a little while, Emma was absolutely silent as she stared at Elsa in utter disbelief.

"You… You're going to help me?" she whispered at last.

Elsa smiled kindly as she nodded. "Yes. I promise I'm going to help you, and although Princess Merida came out here with me to initially retrieve her horse—"

"Which you took without _my_ permission, I might add. My wee devils for brothers telling you it was all right to take Angus barely counts as permission from my family. Next time you decide to run away from the castle to go on a crazy adventure, lass, find some other horse to steal."

"Merida, that is enough. She apologized already for taking your horse, so please just let it go," Elsa said in a somewhat reprimanding tone.

It was actually a little strange to hear Elsa talk that way to Merida. Even though she was a new queen and Merida was still just a crown princess, Elsa was only a year older than Merida, and yet she was speaking to her as though she was either her much, _much_ older sister or even her mother. Merida obviously thought so too, and her face broke out into another deep scowl as she thought of how similar it was to how her mother, Elinor, always chastised her.

Still though, this was not the time nor place to start a huge fight with a girl she barely knew over such a stupid reason, and after a brief moment of just angrily scowling at the new Arendelle queen, the Dunbroch princess simply scoffed one last time before folding her arms across her chest. She focused on glaring at one of the feminine swimming suits that were on sale instead of at Elsa or the little girl, who was still looking at them with a stunned expression on her small face.

Relieved that Merida wouldn't interrupt again, Elsa turned back to Emma. "Well, as I was saying, Emma, Princess Merida originally came along with me to find you because she wanted to find her horse; but she has also agreed to join us in looking for Jack too. As has my cousin, Rapunzel, who's still outside right now. She came with us because you apparently also took something that belongs to her when you left the castle, but—"

"Wait, hold on. I _took_ something that belongs to Princess Rapunzel? I… I don't understand. The only thing I really took when I left Arendelle was Angus and this green cloak. Is this what she's looking for? I'm sorry I ruined it!"

Pascal abruptly chittered to get all eyes on him, and once he succeeded in garnering everyone's attention, he ran down the length of Emma's arm to be resting in her hand. Then, he started frantically squeaking as he pointed sharply with his tail to the door that led back outside.

Everyone blinked when they saw the small chameleon point with his tail, but before anyone could comment on it, Elsa cleared her throat to dismiss the strange event and addressed Emma again.

"No, Emma. It wasn't the cloak you're wearing that Rapunzel is looking for. It's the chameleon in your hand. He's her best friend and pet. His name is… is… I'm sorry, I don't quite remember, but he belongs to her. She's willing to help us look for your brother too, but only if you return him to her."

"Piku… Piku belongs to Princess Rapunzel?" Emma sadly repeated, her words no louder than a dejected mumble.

"Piku? What the bloody hell is a Piku?"

"Merida, please mind your language in front of Emma. She's only—"

"It's the name I gave him. I found him in the stables. I didn't know he belonged to anyone. I just… I just saw him and thought I could make him my pet…"

"Emma, you have to give him back. I'm not angry with you for taking the chameleon, because you were unaware that he belongs to Rapunzel. And after you explain yourself to her, I don't think she will be angry either. But you still need to return him, all right?"

Emma hung her head sadly and reluctantly nodded.

"Okay…"

"Very good. The faster you do that, the faster we can go out again to look for Jack."

Upon hearing those words, Emma's face broke out into a somewhat happy grin. Although she was still upset upon learning that she couldn't keep Pascal and had to give him back to his rightful owner, she was still pleased to learn that she could continue looking for her big brother that she adored. Within seconds she darted across the expanse of the store to hug Elsa tightly.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa! Thank you! Let's go, then! We gotta find Jackie before that evil Shadow Man does!"

She whirled around on her heel and was about to run back to the door to resume her journey looking for her big brother, but Elsa's hand shot out and clamped down firmly on her small shoulder, preventing her from going anywhere.

"One moment, Emma. You can't go out there again wearing that! Your cloak is saturated and your servant's dress is not only ripped beyond repair, it's too lightweight for this weather. You'll freeze to death within ten minutes of being outside."

Emma glanced down at her wet cloak and ruined green dress, and then a sheepish look came across her face. "I'm sorry I ruined my uniform, your majesty, but I have to keep wearing this. I don't have any money to buy other clothes," she insisted.

Elsa frowned at her response, but then she turned her attention back to Oaken, who immediately stood up straighter upon seeing his queen look at him. "I am sure that you must have a good deal of summer goods for sale considering it is supposed to be summer right now, but do you also have any child-sized winter boots and dresses that would fit her?"

As he politely nodded, Oaken kept a bright and cheery smile on his face, but it was impossible to miss the momentary flash of disappointment in his eyes from hearing that none of them would be taking any of his summer goods off his hands.

"That would be in our winter department," he said, gesturing to the wall right beside the entrance to the sauna.

Elsa, Merida, and Emma all turned. The wall that contained Oaken's 'winter department' was all but stripped bare except for one single child-sized dark brown winter dress, a matching brown cloak, brown gloves, and a set of kid-friendly black winter boots. Despite the poor selection, the dress was rather pretty, with a red stripe that went all the way around the mid-section and a matching one on the hem of the skirt. It also had white rosemaling embroidery sewn in.

The girls were all taken aback by the slim pickings, but Elsa recovered from her disbelief first and stepped forward to collect the outfit and the boots from their shelf on the wall.

"This will work fine, thank you," she told Oaken as she brought the clothes and shoes to the counter. "And do you have any food for sale? We have a long journey ahead of us and we need to stock up on provisions."

Oaken nodded. "Look down, your majesty. All the food for sale is directly in front of the counter."

The two royals and the little servant child glanced down. Sure enough, in front of the counter was a series of baskets on a low shelf, and each one of them was stocked with an assortment of food.

Within seconds, Elsa and Merida began to assess their options.

"Don't you got any oats?" the Scottish princess asked as Elsa selected a fair number of carrots and apples out of two of the baskets and added them to Emma's new winter dress and boots on the countertop. "My horse Angus loves oats!"

"Sorry, your highness. The cold weather blew in from the North Mountain just before the next shipment of food could arrive out here. I have no idea what became of my usual supplier out there in the storm, but he was the one who was bringing in more oats for the store."

Merida sighed, but before she could say anything, Emma suddenly darted forward and started to jump up and down repeatedly in an attempt to look Oaken right in the eye despite her small stature.

"Excuse me—"

Hop.

"—but did you say—"

Hop.

"—that all the snow—"

Hop.

"—is coming from—"

Hop.

"—the North Mountain?!"

Oaken was taken aback by the little girl's apparent interest in his small ramble, and he nodded at her with a queer expression on his face.

"Yes, I noticed it this morning. All the snow and winds are coming from somewhere on the North Mountain. I couldn't tell you from where exactly though. Just the mountain itself."

Upon hearing his response, Emma stopped leaping up and down and whirled around to eagerly look up at Elsa.

"Did you hear that, Queen Elsa? The snow's coming from the mountain! That must be where Jack is!"

Elsa smiled. "Yes, I agree with you, Emma. The North Mountain seems as good a place as any to look for your brother."

Emma beamed from ear-to-ear. She felt ever so proud to have been praised by the queen of the country.

"So we're going there to look for him, then?"

"Yes, of course we are. Just as soon as I write down a quick note with my signature so the castle can reimburse Sir Oaken here for all the purchases we're making. Sir Oaken? Do you have any spare parchment and a quill and some ink?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Elsa. I can pay for all this stuff right here, right now."

Elsa was highly taken aback by Merida's unexpected words, and she quickly turned to her.

"You brought money with you, Merida?" she asked.

"No, but I have something on me that can serve as money."

Before anyone could question her further, Merida reached around the back of her neck with both her hands until she could successfully unclasp something. Once unfastened, she tugged a beautiful silver pendant imprinted with the vine covered sword of her family crest out from where it had been hidden in the folds of her wintry dress and cloak. She held it up high so that Oaken would be able to appraise its value.

"This should cover the cost for everything five times over, if not more," she declared, carelessly dropping the priceless necklace into the stunned merchant's hands. "If a pure silver necklace isn't good enough for you, then nothing is."

For a long second, Oaken didn't speak. He just stared with wide, disbelieving eyes at the valuable piece of jewelry resting in his hands. When he finally found his words, an eager grin was plastered to his face as quick as a flash.

"Oh, yes! Yes, your highness! Most definitely! Would you be interested in anything else today, perhaps?! We are stocked well with a significant number of summer goods! I will even add in a quart of lutefisk so we'll have good feelings!"

Merida did her best to not wrinkle her nose and seem visibly repulsed by the lutefisk Oaken was offering. "No, that won't be necessary. We have everything we need. Just point the lass in the direction of a place where she can change her clothes and we'll be on our way. Just as soon we collect our… _friends_ who are waiting for us in that rickety barn outside."

She growled the word 'friends' so harshly, it was impossible to miss the venom in her voice.

Emma was confused at first as to who else could be out there, other than Princess Rapunzel, but then she remembered the unconscious boy who had been draped across the back of the Coronan princess's horse.

She looked up curiously at Elsa and Merida. "Do you mean Princess Rapunzel and that other guy that came with you two?"

Elsa and Merida both stiffened.

"I beg your pardon, Emma?" Elsa said slowly, trying not to give away how tense she suddenly was due to Emma's innocent question.

"The boy that came with all of you, your majesty. I saw you all arrive from the window, that's why I had time to hide before you came in. There was another guy with you two and Princess Rapunzel, but he was asleep. Is that who Princess Merida was also talking about when she said 'friends?'"

Merida was definitely surprised by how perceptive Emma apparently was, but Elsa was mentally screaming at the top of her lungs for Emma to not be so keenly observant. The last thing the new queen needed was for Oaken to follow them out to the barn and see the unconscious Prince Hiccup tied up in her cousin's hair – strange as that was – because the entire situation technically constituted as kidnap of a fellow royal.

"Yes, yes. They're waiting for us out in the barn. Now go change into your new clothes, all right? The sooner you change, the sooner we leave."

"'Kay! Be back in a minute, your majesty!"

Snatching up the pretty brown dress, cloak, gloves, and black boots off the counter, she darted in the direction of a small changing stall located near the very back of the store so she could swap out her clothes. When she reemerged from the stall wearing her new outfit, Pascal was back on her shoulder and she was carrying her ruined green servant dress, saturated green cloak, and black shoes in one hand. Her other hand rummaged about in the pockets of the green cloak until she managed to pull out the white glove she had taken from Jack at the party, and then she looked back up at Elsa and Merida with an excited smile on her face.

"'I'm all ready now! Let's go get Princess Rapunzel and your other friend and finally go look for Jackie!"

Before either of the older girls could say anything in reply, Emma stuffed Jack's white glove into the pocket of her new cloak, discarded her old cloak, dress, and shoes into a large trash barrel beside the counter, and then scurried to the exit as fast as she possibly could. When she managed to wrench the door open and was about to step outside, she suddenly realized that neither Elsa nor Merida were following her, and she whirled back around to scowl at them both rather impatiently.

"What are you waiting for, Queen Elsa, Princess Merida?! We gotta go! Every minute we waste is one more minute that the Shadow Man could hurt my big brother!"

Merida looked nothing short of befuddled at the small girl's antics, but Elsa merely shook her head lightly with a smile. Emma wouldn't be Emma if she wasn't her usual peppy self. With one last polite nod and quiet thank you to Oaken as she and Merida collected the rest of the provisions still on the counter, the two teenagers quickly filed out the door that Emma was kind enough to hold for them. Soon, all three girls were back outside in the cold, wintry night air.

Angus neighed happily when he saw his true mistress leave the small trading post, and Merida was all too happy to shift as much of the supplies as possible into one arm so she could pet him with the other as she, Elsa, and Emma walked down the short flight of steps that led down from the porch.

"Angus! Did you miss me while I was in there? I wasn't even gone ten minutes!"

Angus nickered slightly as Merida laughed and stroked his neck, but Maximus – who happened to be tied to the hitch post beside the black Shire horse – whinnied impatiently. The white Coronan stallion didn't enjoy being tied up like this. He wanted to be protecting Rapunzel, but she had opted to leave him tied up here beside this prideful horse who didn't seem to understand the concept of silent animal speech. So, while he was stuck here, he literally had no one to talk to. Meanwhile, she dealt with keeping the human boy she had knocked out contained inside the barn a few meters away. Why, oh why couldn't she have just led him inside the barn with her and the human boy? Even if she was too busy fussing over the boy to talk to him, at least he could have passed the time observing her quirky antics. Rapunzel was not an ordinary princess, that was for sure.

But his attention was soon drawn by the small girl he had seen the night before in the castle stables. His friend, Pascal, was on her shoulder, and he started neighing furiously as he struggled to try and get himself free from the rope tying him to the wooden post so he could save the small chameleon.

The chameleon in question was downright delighted as he spied Maximus, and he immediately starting chirping and hopping up and down on his perch near Emma's ear in glee – not that she noticed.

The moment the insane horse started frantically acting up, Emma jumped back and hid herself behind Elsa in terror.

"C-Crazy horse!" she yelped, only daring to peek out sparingly at Maximus for a quick second before the feral look in the stallion's eyes made her squeak and hide herself behind Elsa again. "Crazy horse!"

"Crazy horse? What are you going on about, lass?" Merida asked, she and Elsa giving her matching looks of puzzlement.

"That horse is crazy! I recognize him from the castle stables! He wouldn't stop whinnying and neighing at me like I was a bad guy or something and kept trying to kick open the door to his stall! He's crazy!"

Under normal circumstances, Elsa would have just written off what Emma had said as being nothing more than a child's wild imagination. But considering she was standing right in front of said horse as he leapt furiously against his constraint in an obvious attempt to get to Emma – who was actually trembling at the very sight of the beast – she had to admit that perhaps what Emma had said could very well be true. Maximus _did_ look like he was crazy!

Without another word, Elsa grabbed hold of one of Emma's hands and began pulling her away from the horses and in the direction of the barn. "Ignore him for now, Emma. He's not going to hurt you so long as I'm here," she assured the little girl. "Are you coming, Merida?"

Merida scowled, not happy how she was almost being ordered around by the Arendelle queen – who was only barely older than she was – but she nodded in acquiescence and trudged through the snow behind them after one last friendly pat of farewell to Angus's neck.

"Hope your cousin didn't wake _him_ up yet," she growled under her breath as she caught up to Elsa and Emma. "The last thing we need is that scumbag being a pain…!"

Elsa shot her a quick glare, but before she could say anything at all, Emma's voice cut in.

"What do you mean, Princess Merida? Wasn't the boy who came with you just sleeping because he's tired?"

Elsa and Merida both froze in place. Back in the store, they had let Emma keep up that illusion as to why Hiccup was unconscious because it was better that the store owner remained oblivious. That way, he could truthfully deny knowing anything about the possible kidnap of the Viking heir should people come out here looking for either the three of them or for Hiccup himself. But how were they going to explain the real reason why he was unconscious to a little girl who couldn't possibly understand?

With a dry mouth, Elsa let go of Emma's hand so she could spin around and kneel down in the snow to be at the little girl's level.

"Emma, the truth is… we didn't exactly _ask_ our other companion to come with us," she said delicately. "We were forced to bring him along."

Emma blinked, thoroughly confused. "You mean the royal council made you take a bodyguard with all of you? That wasn't necessary, Queen Elsa! Jackie would no more hurt you, Princess Merida, or Princess Rapunzel than he would hurt me! You should know that better than anyone!"

Elsa frowned. "I'm well aware of that, Emma, but you misunderstand me. That boy… we brought him with us because we had no choice but to take him with us out here to look for both you and Jack," she clarified. "It's… I'm not quite sure how to explain this…"

Merida rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the love of…! I'll say it if she won't!" she snapped. "Lass, that guy in the barn with Rapunzel is the heir to the Viking trash, Prince Hiccup! He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Rapunzel knocked him out before realizing who he was! She and your queen _insisted_ we bring him along so we wouldn't have to leave him out to freeze in the snow or return him to the castle!"

Emma stared at Merida for the longest time, her eyes wide at what the crown princess of Dunbroch had just told her. When she finally looked back at Elsa, she struggled to form words.

"Mommy and Jackie… Mommy and Jackie never told me that… that royalty was allowed to kidnap other royalty…" she murmured, still clearly shocked by what she had learned.

Elsa involuntarily flinched at her words, and she had to fight the urge to start massaging her temples and sigh. "Technically it is not allowed, Emma. Under normal circumstances I would never have done such a thing to anyone, much less to a visiting royal of another country, but I must ask you to allow myself, Merida, and Rapunzel to handle this and not get involved. We will speak with him now and apologize for what happened, but allow us to deal with him when we enter the barn, all right?"

Emma was quiet for a few seconds as she weighed the predicament in her young mind, but then slowly nodded.

"I won't get in trouble too if the Vikings get mad at you, Princess Merida, and Princess Rapunzel, will I?" she asked fearfully.

"Don't worry, lassie. In this instance, you're blameless," Merida said with a slight chuckle. "They'll get mad at the three of us, not you."

"Then okay, I promise I won't say anything about it after we bring my big brother home."

Sweet relief coursed through Elsa's entire body at hearing her reply. "Thank you, Emma. You have no idea just how grateful I am to you for promising me this. Now, let's go inside and see what Rapunzel has to say, all right?"

"'Kay…"

"That's a good girl."

Emma smiled half-heartedly as Elsa patted her head. Then, the new queen stood up, took hold of her hand again, and motioned for Merida to follow them as she started dragging Emma behind her towards the barn that was only a short ways up ahead.

But when they pushed open the barn doors and entered the rickety structure, they were met with a strange sight that took all three of them aback.

Rapunzel hadn't been waiting around idly for Elsa and Merida to exit the trading post with Emma and Pascal in tow. During the course of the approximate ten to fifteen minutes that they had split up, Rapunzel had apparently unwound the rest of her unbelievingly long blonde hair out of its tight braid, and it was draped in various great piles all across the floor of the barn, small bits of hay strewn in here and there from the animal fodder spread across the ground. That was surprising, especially for little Emma since this was the first time she had seen just how long Rapunzel's hair really was when it wasn't tied back in its tight braid. However, that wasn't what made the little girl and the two older teens stop short when they entered the old, weathered stable.

It was the fact that Rapunzel had propped the lifeless Hiccup up against one of the rotting wooden beams in the barn and had tied him to it tightly with several large loops of her impressive long blonde locks. She had her frying pan in hand, ready to strike at even the slightest jostle of movement from the Berkian prince.

When she heard the door open, the Coronan princess's head snapped up, and then she startled all three of them with a bright smile upon seeing Elsa, Merida, and Emma.

"Ah, Elsa! Merida! It seems you convinced our little runaway to join us, and she brought Pascal with her!" she said with a genuinely cheerful voice. Before Elsa or Merida could say anything though, Rapunzel was already setting her frying pan down on the ground beside the tied up, unresponsive Hiccup, and had darted across the expanse of the barn so she could be kneeling right in front of a highly flabbergasted Emma.

Within seconds of seeing the spritely princess appear right in front of him, the little green chameleon on Emma's shoulder chirped ecstatically, and he hopped off the child's shoulder and into Rapunzel's outstretched hand.

"Pascal!" Rapunzel cried with delight, immediately nuzzling her nose against the small chameleon's nose. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you! You have no idea just how worried I was all this time!"

Pascal made an affectionate squeak as he ran up the length of her arm in order to give her neck a tight hug. He had missed Rapunzel just as much as she had missed him during the short time that they had been separated thanks to Emma's crazy antics.

Rapunzel giggled as she stroked his head for a moment before allowing her lifelong friend to settle himself on his usual perch on her shoulder. Then she finally turned her attention back to the little girl standing in front of her, who looked rather conflicted about whether or not she should be focusing on the energetic princess in front of her, or if she should be doing what Queen Elsa and Princess Merida were doing and simply continue staring at the tied up Viking prince.

"Hello, there. You're Emma, right? I remember you from the party. My, my! You certainly have a spark for adventure in you, don't you? There aren't many little girls your age who would have the courage to steal a horse belonging to the crown princess of Dunbroch, along with my pet, the crown princess of Corona, just to have companions with her while she ran away from the capitol city."

While Rapunzel's words were nothing short of kind and didn't hold a shred of anger or resentment in them at all, Emma immediately gave the kind girl her full and undivided attention, and she had the decency to blush and bow her head to the princess before dipping down into a quick, polite curtsy.

"H-Hello… I'm sorry I took P-Piku from you, Princess R-Rapunzel… I… I d-didn't know he was yours…" she quietly mumbled.

"Piku?" Rapunzel repeated, confusion clouding her expression momentarily. "Who is Piku?"

Wordlessly, Emma pointed to Pascal on her shoulder in reply.

"Oh! You mean Pascal!" said Rapunzel, now understanding what Emma was talking about. "I understand that you didn't know he was mine, Emma, so I'm not mad at you for that. But please don't try to take him away again in the future, all right? Pascal is my oldest and dearest friend in the world. He means everything to me."

"O-Okay…"

"Enough with the pleasantries. What in the world is going on here?" Merida demanded, dropping her bow and quiver near the discarded basket before jamming her hands on her hips.

Rapunzel turned to Merida, seemingly puzzled by her outburst. "Beg your pardon, Merida? I don't understand what you mean."

"I _mean,_ why in the hell have you let down all that godforsaken long hair of yours out of your braid and tied that pigheaded Vikingfilth to the barn post with it?!"

"Merida, I must ask you to refrain from swearing from this point forward," Elsa said sternly as she packed the extra provisions she and Merida had purchased from Oaken inside the wickerwork basket that they had brought along with them. "While I was not fond of your language before when it was just the three of us, I was willing to let it slide, but now that Emma is with us, please do not use improper language at all. I think I speak for not only myself, but even Jack, and by extent his and Emma's late mother, when I say that that is not the type of language that you should be teaching a little girl."

Merida scoffed. "She'll learn worse words when she gets older, believe me! I knew over half the Scottish language worth of swear words when I was… Lass? How old are you again?"

"Ten…"

"When I was _half_ her age! And at any rate, Elsa, my original question still stands! Why have you tied him to the post, Rapunzel? Were you waiting for her royal majesty to give me her permission to shoot an arrow between his eyes, and you thought to prop him up for a target?"

Emma's eyes widened in alarm upon hearing that the princess of Dunbroch apparently wished to murder the heir of the visiting Viking tribe, but her reaction was missed by the others as Elsa and Merida focused on Rapunzel.

She promptly shook her head and said, "What? Oh, no! No, not at all! I simply thought it would be better to tie him up against one of these pillars. That way, if he woke up before either of you brought Emma back here, he wouldn't be able to struggle too much. At any rate, he's still out cold, so there's no worries."

Elsa still wasn't exactly comfortable with what her cousin had decided to do to keep Hiccup restrained, but before she could say anything, Emma piped up.

"That's… That's a _lot_ of hair…!" she said in wonder.

Rapunzel giggled. "What can I say? I'm growing it out."

"How long is it exactly?"

"Um… well, the last time I measured it, it was around seventy feet, I think…"

" _S-Seventy feet?!"_

"Mmm-hmm!"

"Jeez! When was the last time you cut it?!" Merida asked, just as shocked by the answer as Emma.

Rapunzel immediately went very still. "Uh… well, I… I don't actually…"

Elsa was puzzled. "Say again?"

"I don't cut my hair. Ever."

"But… why?"

"Just because, that's why. Anyway, my hair shouldn't be a priority right now. Since you have found Emma, what we should be talking about is what we're going to do with him!"

She pointed her frying pan sharply in Hiccup's direction.

"We can't keep dragging him around out here while he's out cold like this! I think we should wake him up, tell him what happened when we ran into him, and I'll apologize for knocking him out. We owe him that, at the very least!"

Emma stood awkwardly off to the side, not really wanting to get involved in this particular matter.

Meanwhile, Elsa bit her lower lip, knowing full well that Rapunzel was right. "I suppose you make a good point, Rapunzel. We better awaken him and explain what happened."

Merida sneered as she folded her arms across her chest. "Fine, go ahead. But I _still_ stand by what I said earlier. You both should just let me shoot him and be done with it. He wouldn't be our problem anymore if I did that!"

Elsa shot her an icy glare. "We are _not_ killing him, Merida. If you ask me again, I assure you there will be serious repercussions for Arendelle's alliance with Dunbroch."

"Whatever…"

"What… What do you intend to do to wake him up?" Emma asked hesitantly. "Won't he get mad at all of you when he sees you the second he wakes up?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. All of you hide. Pascal knows what to do, right, Pascal?"

There was an affirmative squeak from Pascal, and he even gave her a small thumbs up with his tiny green paw before skittering down the length of Rapunzel's arm to her hand. As Rapunzel moved to set her animal companion down onto the unconscious Hiccup's right shoulder, the others couldn't help but blink.

"Your chameleon is just like your horse, Rapunzel," Elsa noted. "It doesn't actually speak, but it's still communicating with you."

Rapunzel couldn't help but giggle. "What can I say? Animals from Corona are smart, I guess. Anyway, all of you move out of the lantern light. After Pascal wakes him up, he's going to need a minute to adjust to his surroundings before we spring ourselves on him."

"And just how exactly is a lizard supposed to wake up a knocked out Viking prince?" Merida asked in a skeptical tone as she collected her bow again and swiped an arrow out of her quiver. If Hiccup tried to act violently against them or attempted to free himself from the intriguing rope-hair Rapunzel had tied him up with, nothing Elsa could say would stop Merida from locking Hiccup in her sights a drawn arrow. She had already promised the new queen she wouldn't kill the Hairy Hooligan heir, but the monarch never forbade her from _threatening_ him if he acted like the wild savage she knew he was.

"Chameleon. Pascal is a chameleon. And just wait and see. He'll have Hiccup awake in a jiffy. Now, everyone just step back and give Hiccup and Pascal some space!"

Even though Rapunzel was generally a sweet and rather bubbly princess, at this exact moment, the crown princess of Corona had such a sneaky look on her face as she stroked the curve of her shiny frying pan that the other three girls didn't hesitate to comply. Without a word, Merida slunk back until she was standing directly behind the beam that Hiccup was tied to, so she was out of sight. At the same time, Elsa seized hold of Emma's hand and shrunk backwards with the little girl into the shadows behind the barn door. Rapunzel, however, took a slightly different approach. She used some of her long blonde hair that had somehow wound itself above the stable's rafters to hoist herself upward, and then immersed herself in the darkness, out of reach of the candlelight from the single lantern hanging on the wall.

As soon as Rapunzel was apparently satisfied with everyone's hiding spots, she poked her head out a bit from the shadows to give the small reptile a definitive nod.

"All right, Pascal! Do your thing!"

Pascal nodded in a firm manner before turning away from Rapunzel to stare directly at the side of Hiccup's face. There was a beat, and then the little green reptile lightly swiped at the Viking boy's cheek with his webbed foot. After slapping the boy, he swiftly camouflaged himself as the same shade of brown as Hiccup's furry vest and scooched back to the very edge of his shoulder so he wouldn't be seen.

But Hiccup was still out cold. He was clearly unmoved by the miniscule amount of pain from the light slap.

Pascal blinked as he changed back to his normal shade of green, but then the chameleon scowled and spun around to slap Hiccup twice in the face with his tail. Hard.

Hiccup still stayed unconscious.

Now the chameleon was annoyed. What exactly was he doing wrong?! He elected to poke the teenager twice in the cheek with his tail, using as much force as he could muster.

It was no use. Hiccup showed no sign whatsoever of waking up.

The reptile narrowed its beady black eyes into thin slits. This was ridiculous! It seemed like he was going to have to wake this teenager up the same way he awakened Eugene , back when he broke into Rapunzel's tower.

If it was possible for the chameleon to sigh, Pascal would have done so as he slowly turned himself back around to face Hiccup's cheek again. With a rather deadpanned look on his green reptilian face, Pascal positioned himself only a few inches away from the boy's ear, opened his mouth up wide, and then shot his tongue straight into the cavern of Hiccup's ear canal.

In a flash, Hiccup's eyes shot open.

"Gah!" the Viking heir shouted in alarm, his entire body jerking a bit in the hair restraints and causing Pascal to fall unceremoniously off his shoulder. Pascal looked rather miffed at being knocked off, and he made a small indignant squeak before scurrying away from the still disoriented Hiccup to slither up another rotting beam. Once in the rafters, he quickly climbed up the fabric of Rapunzel's cloak and nestled himself on his usual perch on her shoulder.

The three other teens and the one small child hiding in the various shadows of the barn couldn't help but flinch slightly when they heard his startled cry. But other than Emma whimpering lightly – which prompted Elsa to soundlessly press a finger to her lips in a reminder to stay quiet – they did absolutely nothing yet. Let Hiccup have an additional few seconds to take in his surroundings before they revealed themselves.

Truth be told, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III had yet to even realize he was currently inside a rickety barn being restrained by abnormally long blonde hair against one of the rotting pillars. He was still trying to regain his bearings and figure out why the back of his head felt as though it had been lobbed with a rock twice the size of his fist.

"Argh…! Thor almighty, my head…!" the boy groaned, his voice clearly laced with pain.

Up above in the rafters, it took everything Rapunzel had to not whimper. How hard did she hit him last night with her frying pan? Even when she first met and knocked out Eugene three years ago, or rather Flynn Rider, he hadn't been in pain when Pascal revived him. The Coronan princess felt even guiltier now for her panicked reaction the previous evening.

But Rapunzel had no time to mull over this, because she suddenly became aware of the feeling of something tugging on her many yards worth of blonde hair, and she quickly glanced back down again. Apparently Hiccup had tried to raise one of his hands so as to gingerly massage the painful bump on his skull, but when he discovered that he couldn't do so, the Viking teen finally took note of his surroundings and his current situation. Now he was struggling as hard as he could to free himself from the hair restraints.

"Odin's eye! Help!" he shouted out desperately. "Toothless?! Toothless! Come on, bud! Where are you?! Help me!"

Emma had no idea what he was talking about, but Elsa, Merida, and Rapunzel all quickly exchanged looks of surprise at hearing this. They each recalled the conversation that they had shared with the Viking visitors back at the party before everything happened with Jack's ice powers. While none of them had personally met this Toothless person, they did know that this Viking, whoever he was, happened to be Hiccup's best friend. If Hiccup was calling out for him right now, that meant that he hadn't exactly been alone out there in the forest when they stumbled upon him by accident.

But if there had been someone else in the forest last night, why hadn't he made his presence known by trying to stop the three of them from taking Hiccup?

And that brought up another question.

Why had Hiccup and this other Toothless person been out there in the forest at all?

While they did owe Hiccup an explanation as to why they had technically kidnapped him the way they did, it was also silently and unanimously agreed between the queen and the two princesses that Hiccup owed them an explanation as to what he had been doing last night as well.

Better start these questions now rather than later.

"S-Struggling is pointless!"

Hiccup's head whipped around to try and locate the unknown feminine voice, but Emma, Elsa, and Merida all immediately glanced up at where Rapunzel was hiding in the shadows of the rafters.

Hiccup had yet to realize that it was the Coronan princess's voice that had addressed him, and he was still craning his neck in every direction to try and figure out where his apparently female abductor was hiding. But as he did so, he suddenly took notice of just what it was that was keeping him tied to the support beam, and his alarm over his situation dissipated slightly as confusion overcame him.

"What the…? Is this hair…?"

"I said, struggling is pointless!"

Hiccup jumped a bit again as Rapunzel's voice echoed throughout the barn. He swiveled his head around to search for where the long coils of hair ended, only to become further puzzled when he saw that it led all the way up to the barn rafters, where the shadowy figure of a girl around his age was hiding.

Hiccup blinked when he saw this. "Um… hello?" he said uncertainly.

There was a momentary pause, but then the figure hopped down from her hiding spot near the ceiling. She landed somewhat unsteadily on the ground, but she still maintained her center of balance.

"Sorry about this, Prince Hiccup – tying you up and all, I mean – but it was a necessary precaution. We honestly had no idea how you'd react when you awoke."

Hiccup just stared at the mysterious girl in the shadows for a few seconds, his head reeling, but then he tore his eyes away from her to look curiously around the barn.

"I'm… I'm not a prince, but who are you? Why am I here?"

Rapunzel bit her lower lip, and then hesitantly stepped forward so he could fully see her in the lamplight.

Hiccup blinked when he saw her.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then he found his voice.

"Princess Rapunzel?! You… You kidnapped me?! Why?! What did I do to you?! And where am I?!"

Rapunzel involuntarily flinched. It didn't matter how she went about it. This explanation wasn't going to be easy.

"Um… well Pri—I mean, just Hiccup… well… You never did anything to me, it's just… you stumbled across us when we were—"

"' _Us?'_ What do you mean, 'us?' Is the entire Coronan royal family involved in this?" the Viking teen interrupted, his green eyes narrowing suspiciously. "My people have done absolutely _nothing_ to your country, let alone Germany in general! Have we offended you in some way?!"

"What? _No!_ No, of course not! This is nothing personal against you, Hiccup! It's… It's just that—"

"Speak for yourself! You might not have any quarrel with him, Rapunzel, but even though we never meant to kidnap him, I'm not complaining! If her royal majesty would let me, I would have ended this whole mess ages ago with my bow and arrows!"

Hiccup's head whipped around just in time to see Merida move into the lamplight, her bow drawn and ready to implant an arrow right between the captive teen's eyes.

Hiccup's anger vanished as he stared at the furious red-headed Scottish princess. He was becoming more and more bewildered with each passing second. "Princess Merida?"

The Dunbroch royal's eyes flashed with fury as she glared at the Viking heir. "Do not call me 'princess!' I'm not a princess right now! And you should be counting your blessings that you're even still alive! If it were up to me, you would've been dead yesterday when we first found you!"

There were many ways Hiccup could've chosen to respond to her words. Annoyance, fear, derision… but in fact, he did none of the above.

He was simply too confused.

"Uh… what?"

"That is enough, Merida. I've told you countless times by now that you shall not harm him. This entire situation is already more of a problem than it should be. If there is to be any chance at all of rectifying all this, I must respectfully request that you lower your bow and please be polite to our… our…"

"Future murder victim?!"

" _Guest!_ I respectfully request you to lower your bow and be polite to our _guest!"_

If Hiccup had been puzzled by his current situation before, he was thoroughly baffled now. While he knew that the crown princess of Dunbroch thoroughly despised him just for being a Viking, he had no idea what motive the Coronan princess's could possibly have for tying him to a barn support beam with her apparently very _long_ hair. Adding to that confusion, Hiccup was one hundred percent positive that he been nothing but polite and respectful to the new queen of Arendelle.

So, when Elsa stepped out from the shadows of the barn door with an apologetic expression on her face as she gazed at him, he was downright flabbergasted.

"Queen Elsa?!"

It took all the willpower Elsa possessed to not visibly flinch when she heard the astonishment in Hiccup's voice.

"Prince Hiccup, I really do apologize for this unfortunate circumstance and that you became involved in this. Sadly though, this… _treatment_ was necessary to keep you from overreacting when you awoke."

For the longest time, Hiccup just stared at the new queen in utter disbelief, not wanting to believe that he heard what he just did. Then a surprisingly sharp edge glinted in his eyes.

"For the last time, I am _not_ a prince, so stop calling me one! And I call being tied to a pillar in a freezing cold barn while someone has an arrow pointed at my head a very valid reason for any sane person to overreact! What in the name of Odin did I do to any of you to be treated like this, your majesty?!"

The platinum-blonde tensed at his tone. "Hiccup, I understand you are angry. I would be too if our situations were reversed. But considering that you stumbled upon the three of us when we were sneaking out of Arendelle, and Rapunzel was startled by your sudden appearance and proceeded to knock you out, we weren't sure how you would react when you awoke. We considered this to be a… safety precaution."

The auburn-haired boy scoffed. "Safety precaution? Seriously?" he said dryly. "This is straight up kidnap! Are we even still in Arendelle?!"

"Um… no," said Rapunzel hesitantly, and Hiccup switched his attention over to her. "We're about a day's ride on horseback away from the city."

"Don't tell him that!" Merida cut in. "We can't give him any clues as to where we are!"

"Merida, there is no reason for you to—"

"I'm so sorry you got mixed up in this, your highness! It's my fault you're out here…"

Everyone was silenced by the small apology as little Emma timidly stepped out from the shadowy doorway so Hiccup could finally see her. Her cheeks were a light shade of pink as she fiddled a bit with the hem of her new winter cloak and stared shyly at the hay strewn floor. When she finally gathered the courage to glance up and look the Viking boy right in the eye, she squeaked slightly when she saw the astonished look on his face and darted forward so as to hide herself behind Elsa. After a second, she spared a hesitant peek out from behind the young queen's body to look at Hiccup for a few more moments before hiding herself all over again.

Hiccup stared at the small girl in obvious bewilderment for several seconds. "You're the little girl that's related to that Jack guy… the one who caused winter to come in summer," he said, vocalizing his thought process as he figured out why he knew Emma's face. "Didn't you ride off on Merida's horse in pursuit of your brother? What're you doing here? How'd you get involved in my kidnapping?"

Emma's shyness instantly ebbed away as a rather miffed look spread across her face. "I'm not involved in _any_ of this, Prince Hiccup! Queen Elsa _promised_ me that I wouldn't be blamed at all for what they're doing right now!"

"One, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I am _not_ a prince, so don't call me Prince Hiccup. And two—"

"I, at least, have gotta address you by some type of proper title, Prince Hiccup. Mommy always told me that, because I'm just a servant child and not high-born, I _always_ have to address royalty and nobility with polite manners and proper respect. No exceptions!"

"But I'm not real royalty, so—"

"No exceptions!"

Hiccup blinked at her repeatedly after hearing her response, but then he just shrugged at her and rolled his eyes. He'd let Emma addressing him as a prince slide. Unlike Elsa, Rapunzel, and Merida calling him 'prince' when they should all realize by now that he didn't like being called that, Emma was only addressing him that way because of her rank in life as a commoner. It was annoying for the Viking heir to be called a prince when he really wasn't one, but he'd ignore the title if she was the one using it. But _just_ her. If the Arendelle queen, the Coronan princess, or the Dunbroch princess kept addressing in such a way, he was definitely going to get irritated.

"Whatever. Moving on to the second point – again I ask you, how are you involved in your queen and the foreign princesses tying me up in this barn? Where exactly are we anyways?"

"The forest outside of Arendelle. I don't know exactly where though. I lost the trail earlier this afternoon and spent hours trying to find—"

"Wait, hold up! Queen Elsa, did this kid say something about this _afternoon?_ What day is it?! How long ago was the coronation party?! For how long have I been knocked out?!"

Elsa sighed. "The party was last night. It's been nearly twenty-four hours."

" _Twenty-four—?!_ Have I done something to personally offend any of you?! What did I do to you ladies that caused you all to tie me up like this in Princess Rapunzel's very, _very_ long hair?!"

"What have you done?! You're a savage Viking that raids and pillages the villages in my country! You're a barbaric pig! If I was in charge, you would be—"

"Stop it already, Princess Merida! You're scaring me!" Emma begged. The others turned back to her, but Emma didn't meet any of their gazes. Forgetting all about the rules of propriety that she had been so carefully instructed in her entire life, Emma threw herself onto the hem of Elsa's blue cloak and buried her face into the folds of the fabric.

The princess of Dunbroch became very quiet as she stared at the small girl, but then she huffed and glared at a spot on the ground a short way off from Hiccup. The Scottish princess of Clan Dunbroch still despised the heir to the Hairy Hooligan Viking tribe with every fiber of her being, but she didn't hate him enough to continue antagonizing him if she was scaring the child. She was free-spirited and admittedly, selfish at times, but she wasn't that cruel.

But Hiccup was the victim in this scenario, and he wasn't going to be silenced for more than a few moments at a time. Granted, he wasn't going to yell like Merida had and risk frightening Emma any more than she already was, but he was definitely going to make his anger at this situation known to his captors.

"I have never been to your country, Princess Merida, and to the best of my knowledge, no one from Berk has been anywhere near Scotland in the past few generations because of the dragon attacks on our island. So, I would appreciate it if you didn't call me or my people barbaric pigs. And your reasons for not liking me have nothing to do with this situation. Queen Elsa? _Why_ am I tied up like this?"

Elsa fought the urge to cringe. "This was not intentional, Hiccup. You… You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and we had no choice but to bring you along with us. I am sincerely sorry for what is happening to you. Truly, I am."

"No choice? Explain."

"As you can probably guess by seeing Emma behind me right now, the three of us were leaving Arendelle in secret to find Emma and then Jack. We were riding out of the city on horseback to do so, and you just happened to be leaving the forest while we were entering it."

"I… I freaked out when we ran into you and knocked you out with my frying pan before I realized who you were. I'm really sorry about that! Honest!"

"On that note, what were you doing out there with that empty basket anyway?! Planning some sort of Viking raid on the city to add to all the problems the country is enduring?! The moment you woke up, you yelled for someone named Toothless. Who the bloody hell is that?! Your conspirator in whatever treachery you were planning?!"

At hearing Merida's questions, Hiccup's annoyed expression vanished, and in its place came a look of uncertainty. Hiccup didn't quite know how he was supposed to respond to her. He couldn't tell them the truth about Toothless. He and his father had yet to reveal to Elsa in private the knowledge of about how dragons were actually good and friendly creatures. They were supposed to have discussed this with her during a meeting to negotiate a trading alliance between their countries. If he revealed all this to the new queen, the two princesses, and by extent the trembling little girl cowering behind Elsa right now, that whole plan Stoick had thought up would go right down the drain. Plus, it was one thing to get Elsa to believe him and his father during a meeting, when he could show her Toothless directly afterwards and let her see for herself that dragons could be trained and befriended. However, with no way to back his claim right now, his kidnappers would think he was crazy, and Elsa might finally give Merida the go ahead to shoot an arrow between his eyes.

No, the best thing to do right now was to skirt around the truth as much as possible while trying not to lie too much.

"I… I wasn't doing anything like that. My people are _not_ planning some sort of attack on the city, I swear! I was… well… I… You all wouldn't even believe me if I told you."

"Try us! Because right now, you definitely seem suspicious!"

"I hate to take Merida's side in this, Hiccup, but she makes a good point. You really can't expect us to trust you if that's all you intend to tell us."

Hiccup groaned at Rapunzel's words. "Look, even if I wanted to tell you what I was doing out there, I can't! It's related to the trade agreement my people want to create with Arendelle, and my dad has basically ordered the whole tribe to stay quiet about it until we can formally discuss it with the queen. And before you ask Elsa, no. No, I won't talk about it with you right now. My dad made it very clear that it's to be discussed in a formal meeting between myself, him, you, possibly your sister if you wish it, and Gobber. He's training me to be the next chief of our tribe, and he wants to be present to see how I do at handling the negotiations. I can't talk to you about this until we get back to Arendelle."

There was a lengthy pause as Elsa considered this. She couldn't say she was exactly pleased by how Hiccup was avoiding the question, but at the same time, she couldn't be angry with him for not answering either. Politics were a very delicate matter, especially during the training periods for future leaders. Her late father had tutored her himself to ensure she would be an excellent diplomat and politician one day when she took over as queen. She was annoyed that Hiccup wouldn't explain to them what he had been doing out in the middle of the snowy woods at night when they stumbled upon him. But if it was related to the trade agreements that the Viking visitors wished to make, and he wasn't allowed to talk about it because Chief Stoick intended to use the negotiations as a wat to see how his son would do in a real life diplomatic setting, she could understand and relate to that.

"Then tell us this instead. What you were doing out there in the forest, was it in any way a threat to my people and country? I believe I deserve an answer on that, at least."

"No!" Hiccup gasped, looking astounded by the very notion. "No, I swear! Like I said before, my father wants to create an alliance with Arendelle! We're not trying to start a war! Not with you! Not with Corona! And not with Dunbroch! Or with any other visiting country! We came here with peaceful intentions!"

"Honestly?"

"Oh, for the love of Thor! _Yes!_ Yes, I am being honest!"

"Hmm…"

There was a brief pause as Elsa, Rapunzel, and Merida exchanged unreadable expressions amongst themselves as they considered everything they had gotten out of Hiccup. However, before they or Hiccup could say anything further, Emma suddenly yawned loudly, and all eyes returned to her.

"Are you getting tired, Emma?"

"Mm-hmm," the little girl murmured, struggling desperately to keep from swaying on her feet as she rubbed her eyes with the back of a small hand. "Sorry for interrupting, Queen Elsa. I'll—" she was cut off when she yawned again. Remembering her manners, she quickly covered her mouth with her palm before continuing. "Sorry, your majesty, your highnesses. I'll try… try not to yawn too much anymore…"

Emma's eyelids drooped a bit for a moment before flickering wide open again. She shook her head from side to side frantically for a few seconds to force herself back awake before stepping backwards a bit to lean up against one of the other barn pillars. She couldn't afford to fall asleep now.

She might have been awake for over twenty-four hours, but there was too much going on right now for her to risk giving in to her tiredness. Elsa and the other two princesses had promised to help her find Jack, but if it turned out they were going to keep pointlessly arguing with the Viking prince over stuff that really was of no concern for her, then she was just wasting her time staying here. She had to stay awake and find out how much longer this stupid argument was going to take. Pretty soon, she was just going to quietly slip back outside, figure out some way to climb back onto Angus without having anyone give her a boost up onto his back, and then continue her journey to the North Mountain.

Emma would never risk being intentionally rude to royalty, but every second that the queen, the two princesses, and the prince argued meant another second of her being away from Jack. Even though she was all but dead on her feet, she really didn't want to waste any more time in her quest to find him.

"Lass, if you're tired, go ahead and sleep. I can guarantee we'll have figured out what to do with this idiot soon, and we'll keep going in the morning."

Emma furiously shook her head at this as she fought hard to stay awake. "Nuh-uh! I gotta stay awake. I've gotta make sure we keep going up the mountain the second you're done here. We can't waste too much time."

Hiccup's ear perked up at this. "First off, don't talk about me as though I'm not even here. Secondly, what do you mean when you say you're going to keep going up the mountain? I'm not really the reason why you're all here right now, am I?"

Rapunzel nervously chuckled. "Well, I don't suppose there's any point in lying about that, so… yeah. Yeah, you might be tied up right now because we had yet to talk things over with you, Hiccup, but you're not the primary reason why we're all out here."

"Then what is your real reason? You all owe me an explanation about that, at least. Were you just out here looking for her?" He wordlessly jerked his head in Emma's direction to elaborate before continuing. "If that's the case, then are you planning to head back to the city now? And am I going back as your prisoner, or as your traveling companion?"

"You are not a prisoner, Hiccup," Elsa immediately insisted. "Once again, we apologize for how we have tied you up, but you are certainly not our prisoner. As for why we are all out here right now, you are half correct. Our initial goal was to locate young Emma – who, as you can, see we did manage to find. But we intend to find Jack as well."

"Jack… Hey, kid? He's your brother, right? The one that set off this weird winter?"

Emma sleepily nodded. "Yeah. And if you all are going to keep yapping instead of helping me find him, I'm… I'm leaving…"

Her statement would have gotten raised brows from the four teens had she not yawned loudly at the end of her sentence.

"We'll be done soon, Emma, I promise," Elsa assured her.

"'Kay…"

Elsa smiled at Emma for another moment longer, and then she turned her attention back to Hiccup. "In any event, Prin— I mean, just Hiccup, we never wanted this to happen. We were simply on our way out of the city when we ran into you, and Rapunzel overreacted. We are sincerely sorry for these circumstances. Our options at the time were limited. I was certainly not going to allow Princess Merida to kill you as she wanted, and leaving you unconscious in the snow would have surely resulted in you freezing to death. However, if we had returned you to the castle we would have run the risk of being stopped from looking for Emma and Jack. We thought that the best case scenario was to bring you with us."

Hiccup was silent for a time as he contemplated all this, but then a thought occurred to him, and a strange, unreadable glint suddenly appeared in his green eyes as he addressed all of them.

"I guess that just leaves one question then, doesn't it? What's going to happen now?"

Emma was still fighting the waves of sleep that were threatening to overpower her, so she didn't really pay much attention to what he had asked, but Elsa, Rapunzel, and Merida's expressions all became even more puzzled.

"Well… Well I suppose we could give you one of our horses so you can go back to Arendelle," Rapunzel suggested rather uncertainly. "You're not our prisoner, so you're free to go if you wish…"

"Excuse me?! If you think for one second that I'm going to stand by and let you offer up Angus to this savage Viking to ride anywhere, Rapunzel, then you've got—!"

"You both misunderstand me. I wasn't referring to myself this time when I asked what's going to happen now. I was rhetorically asking what's going to happen to all of you."

Silence.

No clever retorts at all from any of the three royal teens who had elected to technically kidnap the future chief of the Hairy Hooligan Viking tribe.

Just silence.

For the longest time, Elsa, Merida, and Rapunzel did not speak. They just stood there in front of the tied-up, but still surprisingly smug-looking Viking heir with wide eyes and matching perplexed expressions on their faces. Even Emma managed to snap awake upon hearing this and was now staring dumbfounded at Hiccup, not believing her own ears.

"What do you mean by that, Prince Hiccup?" the little girl asked, no trace at all of sleepiness in her voice now. "Queen Elsa and Princesses Merida and Rapunzel apologized already for what's happened to you – and again, I wasn't involved at all in you being here right now, so you can't blame me for this…"

The auburn-haired teen chuckled. "Don't worry, kid. I wasn't including you when I said 'all' just now. It's obvious that all you want is to find your brother, and you had no idea that anyone would follow you up here. I'm just theoretically talking about the three of them."

Emma blinked at his words, but after a few seconds' worth of deliberation, she broke eye contact with the Viking boy and moved to sit down on a soft bale of hay. If she wasn't going to get in trouble for whatever Hiccup was talking about, that was good news for her, but she was still hopeful that he wouldn't end up getting too mad at Elsa. Elsa wasn't just the new queen of her country, she was also the closest thing Emma had to an older sister while growing up. Her and Anna. So she didn't want Hiccup to start hating Elsa just because of this odd kidnapping.

The others though, were more concerned about the implications that Hiccup was hinting at right now than the idea of him not liking any of them.

"What exactly are you suggesting, Hiccup?" Elsa asked carefully. "If you are expressing concern about all of us going up the mountain by ourselves to look for Jack, we appreciate the sentiment, but I am certain we will be all right."

Hiccup's smirk still stayed in place on his face. "Sorry, Elsa, but that's not exactly what I was talking about. While I'm not the type of guy to let a group of young woman walk into danger all by themselves, I— Merida, I'm _not_ trying to insult you right now, so please lower that bow! You all met my girlfriend Astrid last night, so you should know full well that I have nothing against women being capable fighters!"

The curly-haired Scott huffed for what had to be the umpteenth time by this point as she lowered her bow and arrows away from Hiccup's face. "Hmph! You better not! You're on thin ice, ye doaty bassa!"

"Merida, let's let him finish, all right? So please stop trying to kill him! We shouldn't escalate things any further than they already are!" Rapunzel said in a bit of a flustered frenzy.

Merida's face turned as red as her hair as rage boiled inside her. Didn't anyone here understand where she was coming from? Hiccup may not be a bad person in the grand scheme of things, but he was still a Viking. A disgusting Viking just like the other disgusting Vikings that had plagued the shores of Dunbroch for countless generations! And she knew all too well that the family and homeland of her suitor, Alan of Clan MacGuffin, got the brunt of each attack.

There had been so many innocent lives lost thanks to the filthy and sickening Viking brutes that chose to rape and pillage her country, and all because they lived just on the outskirts of the Barbaric Archipelago. There were very few things her parents agreed upon when it came to matters of war, but Merida knew for a fact that when it came to Vikings, her mother and father would both surprisingly be on the same page. Even if it might cost him his life, King Fergus could always be counted on to hunt down and destroy any Vikings that attempted to invade Dunbroch anywhere near their modest stone castle nestled deep in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. Similarly, although her mother was well known to prefer diplomacy over fighting, Queen Elinor's one exception to that mindset was whenever Vikings were involved. She wasn't fond of the bloodshed that came with fending off the Viking raids, but she also knew that it was impossible to try and discuss peace treaties with people who were raised with the mindset that everything in life was war and therefore had to be destroyed. People who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.

The only reason why her mother had ordered all of them to not antagonize the Viking visitors at the coronation ceremony was because they were guests here Arendelle, so it wasn't the time or place to start a fight. However, now that Merida was alone here with Hiccup and only Elsa, Rapunzel, and Emma were around for company, it was becoming harder and harder for her to ignore the teachings that had been instilled in her by both parents her whole life and not kill the scrawny Viking that was all but being served to her on a shiny silver platter. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be left alone with the sarcastic and smug, green-eyed, auburn-haired boy for five minutes! That would be more than enough time for the strong-willed princess of Dunbroch to slit his throat and hide the body afterwards!

Before she could say anything regarding all this, however, Elsa was already pressing Hiccup for more details.

"Hiccup, please continue. If you're not referring to us going up the mountain all alone, then what are you saying?"

Hiccup's smirk grew in size. "You've already promised me that you're not planning to hurt me. I'm grateful for that, and I'm certainly not going to hurt any of you either once you girls eventually untie me – which you all _will_ have to do at some point because Rapunzel can't go anywhere with the rest of you since her strangely long blonde hair is what you used to tie me up – but what's to stop me from telling my dad what you all did to me once I get back to the city?"

There was a very long, very tense pause as the three royal girls all froze up. This was something they had never once thought of.

Even little Emma's head snapped up at hearing this rhetorical question thrown out into the air. "But you mustn't do that, your highness! Chief Stoick will get mad at Queen Elsa! And Arendelle is a peaceful country! I don't want our country to go to war with your island!"

Hiccup and the other three older girls all blinked at her words. Emma was definitely wide awake now if she was able to blurt out abrupt statements like that, no doubt about it.

"I don't want Berk to go to war with your queen's country any more than you do, Emma – That's your name, right? I think that's what your queen called you."

Emma nodded. "Uh-huh, that's me."

"Okay, well, believe me on that," he quickly went on. "I'm just throwing a hypothetical out into the air, but I'm still rather serious about it. Queen Elsa? Can you think up any possible reason why I _shouldn't_ tell my dad about all this when you all eventually have to let me go? Because it can't be denied that that's what any normal human being would do if they were in my place right now."

Elsa didn't initially reply. He had caught her off guard with his surprisingly honest assessment of what he should do the moment they released him from his bindings – and again, he was quite right when he said that they _would_ eventually have to let him go, because unless Rapunzel chose to cut her hair, there was no way she could go anywhere. The new queen wasn't quite sure how she should answer him at first. But Elsa was very wise despite her young age, and it didn't take her long to realize something very obvious in what Hiccup had just said. It took everything in her power to compose her face from a look of panicked anxiety into a carefully constructed queenly expression of skepticism with only a single brow raised as she stared down at Hiccup. Also, to make sure she didn't sound as though she had a lump in her throat, she summoned forth all the knowledge she had been carefully instructed in to help keep her voice sounding calm, clear, and above all, still resonating with power.

After all, despite his circumstances, Hiccup thought he was holding all the cards right now since he saw that none of them had intended for him to get roped into this mess at all.

And because it had been her idea to go after the runaway Emma first before searching for Jack, it was up to her to remind the Viking heir just who was in charge here.

"You would not have brought this up at all if you hadn't already thought up whatever it is you consider to be the correct answer to that question,Hiccup. What is it that you are saying exactly? What do you want?"

Hiccup grinned a rather friendly grin back at her, but to the great Arendelle queen, the worried Coronan princess, the hotheaded Dunbroch princess, and the sleepily little Arendelle servant girl, it looked rather smug and cocky.

"What do you think I want? My dad brought both myself and a good number of our fellow tribesmen all the way from Berk to try and secure a trading alliance with your country. I believe you when you say that this situation was just a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time… but I know my dad, and all of you should trust me when I say that he's going to take this incident as an insult to not only me, but also to him and our people. And let's be honest here, wouldn't any of your parents feel the same way if one of you were sitting here in my place right now? Again, I _could_ act the way that Merida expects and let a war happen over all this, but I'm an oddity amongst my tribe and I really _don't_ want any wars to happen anytime in the near future. That being said, I'm not saying that I _won't_ tell my dad about this situation either… Unless of course you promise one small favor to me, Queen Elsa."

Rapunzel, Merida, and Emma all slowly turned to look at the suddenly very fixed monotone expression on Elsa's face… meanwhile, she was doing everything in her power to not visibly show how worried she was.

This was bad.

Very bad.

Hiccup was resorting to blackmail.

Blackmail.

He wanted to blackmail _her._

The new queen.

She knew she made the right decision in stopping Merida from shooting him and causing a calamity of diplomatic issues between their various countries, but perhaps she _should_ have just elected to leave him abandoned all alone in the cold snow instead of bringing him along. He probably would have frozen to death, but with him being stranded out there, the odds of anyone knowing that they had been involved in any way were slim to none. She certainly wouldn't have been placed in a position where she would have to negotiate terms with Hiccup for him to not tell everyone what had led to him being roped into this mess.

"What is it you want?" she asked stiffly. "Gold? A portion of Arendelle's lands? Do you wish to secure your island's trading alliance with Arendelle before I've even had the chance to listen to the proposal Chief Stoick is supposed to present to me?"

"Answering in order of your questions: no, not at all, and an interesting idea, but that's a no as well. All I want from you, Elsa, is just your vow as queen that when the time comes for everyone to officially meet Toothless, no harm will come to him… at least not while my people are still here in Arendelle's borders."

There was a lengthy pause as the four girls looking down at him blinked accordingly at the strange request.

"Toothless?" Elsa repeated, not quite making sense of what Hiccup had asked of her. "You wish for protection for your friend? I… I don't understand. Why would anyone try to harm him? Provided of course that he obeys Arendelle's laws, no one from my country's military would hurt your Viking friend, and they wouldn't allow anyone from any of the visiting countries attack a guest either."

Hiccup snorted, he couldn't help himself, and his reaction made the generally sweet and kind Princess Rapunzel narrow her eyes suspiciously.

"What's so funny?! What Elsa asked is a perfectly legitimate question!"

"It is a legitimate question, Rapunzel, so I'm sorry for laughing, but it's funny to me because while Toothless did come to Arendelle with my people… he's not a guest. Or at least, you all wouldn't necessarily consider him a guest."

The girls just continued to stare at him.

"Don't worry about understanding me right now. I don't expect any of you to get what I'm saying. You'll all get it when you see him. But still, your word, Queen Elsa. Promise me that under no circumstances will he be harmed by either your military, or by any of the other visiting countries' militaries while my people are still in Arendelle's borders, and I swear that I won't let my current situation be the cause for war to break out between our nations."

Elsa was silent for a considerable amount of time. Hiccup's request was beyond unusual. Why in heaven's name would she order the Arendelle military to attack Hiccup's fellow Viking the moment she met him, whoever he was? And why did he also request that she pull her rank as queen of Arendelle over the visiting countries to ensure that none of the other coronation guests tried to hurt him either? She needed answers to these questions before she could agree this.

"Tell me why you are requesting this, Hiccup. I need a reason as to why I should do this before I agree to it."

"I… I can't tell you, your majesty."

Merida huffed. "Typical Vikings! They make outrageous demands and don't even give an explanation as to why they're doing it!"

"That's not it at all, Merida. Toothless… Toothless was brought to Arendelle out of the slim, naïve hope that he could be used to demonstrate to Elsa that it was in her best interest to form an alliance with Berk. And before any of you ask about the trading alliance my dad so desperately wants, again, I can't tell you. I'm not allowed to talk about it. It's all supposed to be kept under wraps until the negotiation meeting. It's my dad's orders, and since he's the chief, I have to obey them. I can't talk about it. End of story."

The two princesses and the new queen still weren't one hundred percent sold on being told the absolute bare minimum about Hiccup's strange request. However, Emma was now looking rather grouchy. She glared at all of them with her arms folded across her small chest and one of her little feet began tapping the ground repeatedly to wordlessly show just how annoyed she was becoming with the lengthy delay. With that, plus the irritable scowl on Hiccup's face, there wasn't really any time to second guess this generous deal that the Viking heir was proposing.

"I'll… I'll accept your condition, Hiccup, but tell me this at least first. This Toothless friend of yours, is he dangerous? Would he hurt anyone?"

"Only if someone dares to attack him first. He's good, your majesty. Inexplicably good. But you won't think that when you first see him. No one from any of the other visiting countries will think that he's good either But so long as you don't try to hurt him first, he won't hurt anyone. I swear to all the Norse gods that exist that he won't."

"Very well then, Hiccup. You have a deal. No one will harm this Toothless so long as your tribe is here in Arendelle. If something happens outside my kingdom's borders, that's beyond my control, but nothing will happen while you and your people are within Norway. I give you my word."

Hiccup grinned. "Okay, then. So long as you keep that promise, Queen Elsa, you won't have any trouble from me. Whenever we get back to Arendelle, I'll just say I ran into you all while you were leaving the castle, and decided to tag along for the fun of it."

Merida's eyes narrowed. "Hold it! What the bloody hell makes you think you're coming with us on this journey?!"

The Viking heir rolled his eyes in irritation. "Well, I can't in good conscious let three girls and a little kid go on a practically suicidal quest up the mountain to look for the guy that caused this weird winter while some evil shadow sorcerer is on the loose. Plus, I'm assuming that only Merida has any real survival and combat experience. You guys dragged me out here with you. I kind of have to go along with you, now."

"Prince Hiccup, that really isn't necessary!" Rapunzel chimed.

Elsa nodded. "We appreciate the offer, but you do not have to come along with us if you don't wish to. There's a trading post right outside. You can go in there and ask for directions back to the city."

Tiny Emma was still fighting off the ebbing waves of drowsiness, and she swayed a bit on her feet as she too nodded along with what the others were saying. "Go back, Prince… Prince Hiccup…" she mumbled, fighting off a yawn as she spoke. "We're fine without you…"

In truth, Hiccup should have felt annoyed by this, all of them telling him that they didn't want him to tag along. But all he did to outwardly show them how he felt was give them a rather dry look.

"How many of you are used to dealing with ice and snow all the time in your home countries?"

The girls blinked at him, not understanding.

"You can't answer that, can you? Truth is, you only deal with the cold weather periodically during the usual winter months, right? Not me. You're all forgetting that I'm from Berk. It might be an island, but it snows there nine months of the year, and then hails for the other three. I know how to navigate in cold weather. You four might have made it this far on your own, but if you're telling the truth when you say that we're outside some sort of mountain trading post right now, then that means you've all been following a trail to get here. What's the likelihood that Jack stuck to a path if he chose to run away from the kingdom? If you go any further to look for him, you'll have to leave the mountain trails. That's a death sentence if you don't know how to survive in the mountains during winter."

There was a long stretch of silence at that. None of them, not even the hot-tempered Merida, could exactly argue with his logic.

"Face it. You guys need my help. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have another fighter around if that weird Shadow Man comes back. Just untie me and give me back my sword and I promise I'll have your backs."

"Your sword?" Rapunzel repeated, puzzled. "What sword?"

"I have a special retractable sword I made in the forge back on Berk. I can feel it's not in its holster on my hip right now. Please tell me you guys didn't lose it while dragging my unconscious body through the forest all day today."

Elsa frowned at his choice of words, but still shook her head. "No, it's not lost. We stored it away in Merida's quiver. Merida, return it to him, please."

The Scottish girl huffed, but did as Elsa asked and started rummaging around furiously in her quiver to retrieve the bizarre sword hilt they had taken from the Viking. "I do this under protest, Elsa! I still don't trust him, and if he does anything to prove that he's nothing more than a lying, savage Viking, I'll be shoving these arrows down his throat one by one!"

"Merida—"

"I'll do it! I swear I will! You hear that, Viking Scum?! Try anything funny and you're a dead man walking! Is that clear?!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Crystal, your highness. Now, if you would all be kind enough to untie me and give me back my sword?"

Merida huffed, but made no further comments as Elsa and Rapunzel stepped forward and worked on undoing the tight knots of hair that secured the Viking heir to the pillar. As soon as he was free again and slowly back up onto his feet while wiping away bits of hay stuck to his clothes, Elsa glanced around curiously in the small enclosure until she spied several bales of hay. It wasn't exactly ideal conditions, but when out in the middle of nowhere, one couldn't exactly be picky when it came to finding shelter for the night.

"We should all get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow," she said.

Merida, Rapunzel, and Hiccup all nodded at the new queen's suggestion, but Emma immediately scowled.

"No way!" the little girl snapped. "Jack's out there all alone! We leave now! Right now!"

She started to furiously march her way toward the door, but Rapunzel's words made her pause.

"Emma, weren't you tired a few minutes ago? Don't you think you should try to get some sleep right now so we can all keep going nice and refreshed in the morning?" she said reasonably.

The little girl though just huffed at her words before continuing her way outside. "I'll sleep after I find my brother. That Shadow Man's out here. He could have already found Jackie by now. I don't have time to sleep."

Merida sighed in exasperation. Forget her wee devilish brothers. This girl had to be at least a thousand times more troublesome than they were. "Lass, speaking from personal experience here, running out into the forest when you're an emotional mess is a recipe for disaster. So sit down now and—"

"You all do what you want. Jack's not family to any of you, so you guys really don't care what happens to him. You just care about the winter going on. Well, not me! I'll find him on my own if you're too lazy to keep going."

And with that, little Emma Overland spun around on her heel, and walked purposefully right out the door without another word, her dark brown hair bouncing about from side to side with every step. There was a long pause as the queen, the two princesses, and the Viking heir exchanged looks of utter bewilderment, but then they followed her outside.

To their surprise, Emma was not shuffling her way through the snow toward any of the horses. Instead, she had just walked right past the animals in order to head up the mountain on foot.

"Emma, aren't you going to try and get on one of the horses first?" Rapunzel called out in obvious worry.

While Emma did not dare stop walking, she threw back a somewhat annoyed reply over her shoulder. "How can I? I'm not taking Queen Elsa's horse, your horse scares me, Princess Rapunzel, and if I take Princess Merida's horse, I'll be accused of stealing again. I have to walk from here."

"Kid, you're going to get yourself killed if you go into the woods right now," Hiccup shouted after her. "If not by the cold or that weird Shadow Man, then by being eaten by a bear or something."

"I don't care!"

As she struggled to shuffle her way through the high mounds of thickly packed snow, the queen, the two princesses, and the Viking heir all exchanged looks of unease and exasperation, and after a few more moments of silent deliberation, the four of them all sighed and nodded to one another in reluctant agreement. It was clear that nothing they said or did was going to persuade Emma to wait until morning. She was just a little girl. They couldn't just let her take off alone.

"Emma? Hold up."

"How many times do I have to repeat myself, Queen Elsa?! I'm not gonna—"

"I'll help you onto my horse. We're coming with you."

At that, the little dark-haired girl spun around.

"You are? Really?"

"What can we say, Lass? It's an adventure," the fiery spirited crown princess of Dunbroch exclaimed. "Who'd turn down such an exciting quest?"

Emma giggled at that, and then hurriedly shuffled her way back to the others so that she could get a boost up onto the queen's horse. Elsa initially stepped forward to help the little girl climb on, but Hiccup beat her to the punch.

"Here, on three, kid," the kind Viking boy said, kneeling down in the snow and making a cup with his hands near the ground for Emma to step up onto. "One… two… three!"

And just like that, Emma carefully climbed up into Hiccup's makeshift stepstool hands, and then swung her small body into the front-most part of Sitron's saddle. She giggled excitedly once she was on.

"Thank you for your help, Prince Hiccup!"

"For the last time, kid. Don't call me—"

"Let it go, Hiccup. She's showing you the respect she's been taught to give people of our station since the day she was born. You can't get mad at her for that."

Hiccup sighed, but otherwise shrugged away Elsa's words as he glanced over at the remaining two horses, and then cringed in displeasure. "Am I gonna have to share, too?"

"What's the matter? Do Vikings not know how to ride?" Merida snarled.

The future Berkian chief rolled his eyes. "We can ride. Just not horses. We ride… other creatures."

Merida huffed in obvious disbelief, but the others all blinked at him in confusion.

"Other creatures? What do you mean?"

"Story for another day, Elsa," he replied, brushing off his own comment with a wave of his hand. "Just tell me which horse I'm riding."

"Not mine, I'm saying that now!"

"You can ride with me, Hiccup. I don't mind."

"Thanks, Rapunzel."

* * *

Invisible to the three young royal teens and the small servant child, Pitch Black was looming over their forms from his perch on the snowy rooftop of Oaken's Trading Post. It annoyed the Nightmare King that none of them could see him at the moment, but none of them were particularly afraid at this time, and because of that, he was nothing more than a ghost to them once again. The boost of fear he had received from the entire country the night before was still flowing through his veins, but unless a person was currently experiencing fear, he still couldn't be seen by normal humans.

Or at least, not while he was still this weak.

This was why he still needed that ice boy, Jackson Overland. He was a continuous source of never ending fear, hence the reason why Pitch had followed him into these freezing cold woods after the teenager had fled from the kingdom. But for reasons currently beyond Pitch at this time, he couldn't locate Jack anymore, because for some bizarre reason, Jack no longer seemed to be afraid. That was a major problem for the Boogeyman. While everyone's fear was important, Jack's fear was at least three times greater than a normal person's fear when it came to even the smallest issues, and therefore his fear was what Pitch craved the most. He'd been struggling for the past twenty-four hours to try and find Jack, but now that he had been fortunate enough to stumble across this group of young humans, his luck had completely turned around.

He would have to follow them during their search for Jackson Overland, but that meant he had to at least give them a taste of his powers again to keep them fearful enough so he could track them.

He waved his hand, and less than a second later, a small number of black sand Nightmares materialized around him.

"Go," he ordered them. "Spread fear."

As the group below started off into the forest, the dark, evil stallions whinnied an affirmative, and then galloped straight down through the air until they were at ground level before cautiously trotting along after the human party at a distance. No point in them trying to terrify the group now. Let them bide their time until the group subconsciously dropped their guard. The best time to truly frighten a person was when they least suspected it, after all.

Pitch wickedly grinned as he watched his stallions go, and with one last smirk to himself, he leisurely turned, and began floating his way back in the direction of the kingdom. As much as he wanted to stay with his Nightmares and see them all the way to wherever Jack had decided to hide, there was still more work to be done. The odds were that the Guardians knew by now that something was amiss, so whenever they arrived, he needed to be ready. There was still plenty of fear that could be harvested from the townsfolk and visitors in Arendelle. As soon as he collected more than enough fear from the humans in the castle town, he would join his Nightmares in tracking the human search party. However, if the party found Jack first, he would then drop everything to join them. Either way, this was time that had to be put to use, not spent lollygagging and waiting around for that stupid teenager to be found.

But unbeknownst to the Nightmare King as he floated away, he was not the only being in the forest who had a reason to track the group of royals with the little servant child.

From the shadow of the trees, on the opposite side of Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, a certain dragon was crouched, having only just now arrived at the small forest store. The reptile was freezing cold. It was one thing for it to deal with cold weather back in the Barbaric Archipelago, because even though it snowed nine months out of the year and hailed the other three there, its weather was consistently the same. This bizarre snow in the middle of summer however was so unexpected, that it was impossible for the dragon to get warm again unless he stopped tracking the group for a short time and made a plasma bolt to warm himself up.

But that didn't matter. The Night Fury would gladly freeze to death first before any harm came to Hiccup.

With a deep growl, Toothless set off again through the trees. He would find his human friend again. Make no mistake about that.


End file.
